Lecia Eubanks

LaFayette’s library will soon be expanded and officials said the timing couldn’t be better.

“Unemployment is creating such a need for the library,” LaFayette City Councilman Bill Craig said.

From computers to newspapers, officials said the LaFayette-Walker County Library’s resources are increasingly valuable as area residents look for ways to save money during the recession.

The City Council recently approved the use of funds from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or SPLOST, for library officials to begin the “programming and pre-design” phase of renovations to the building, which is about 40 years old.

“It is at the age it needs renovation,” Mr. Craig said.

A total of $2 million of county and city SPLOST funds is available for the library, and officials have applied to the state for an additional $2 million.

The SPLOST funds will pay for research into what kind of additional programming is needed at the library and for architects to begin working on renovation designs, said Lecia Eubanks, director of the Cherokee Regional Library System, which oversees the LaFayette library and three others.

The library is third in line on the state’s funding list, she said.

“(The state money) is going to be on the list that will go before the governor in the FY2011 budget,” Mrs. Eubanks said. “We need to make sure we have our building program in case it is funded when they go back into session.”

LaFayette’s library is the largest in the Cherokee Regional Library System and serves as the system’s headquarters, but is missing some important amenities.

“The first thing that comes to mind is a computer lab, possibly some private study rooms,” Mrs. Eubanks said.

After getting approval from the City Council on Monday, library officials were already meeting Friday to brainstorm ideas of what is needed in the renovation and programming.

Mrs. Eubanks also said she and other library officials will tour other libraries to get ideas. They hope to have their plan mapped out and turned into the state by Oct. 1, she said.

Although not scheduled yet, library leaders also will host public meetings to get feedback. Mrs. Eubanks hopes those who don’t regularly visit the library will give officials an idea of what extra amenities or programs would motivate them to come.

“We want to meet with the community and see what they want,” she said.