Springfield-Greene County Library District plans new library and more

REPUBLIC, Mo. (KY3) - Millions of dollars will soon bring upgrades to libraries. Greene County library leaders said this was needed for a growing community.

Unexpected funds have the Springfield-Greene County Library District looking to find more books. Executive Director, Regina Greer Cooper, said a new library could be on its way.

“(It’s) A $12 million building in Republic, what we call a destination library,” said Greer Cooper.

She said established buildings are getting much-needed renovations to help the public.

“We need a bigger auditorium. We’ve been doing a lot of programming that has attracted a lot of people,” said Greer Cooper.

She said much of the money is coming from the state by means of the American Rescue Plan Act. Greer Cooper said there is $6 million for renovations across the district, $4.5 million for the new Republic library, and other money from matches with fundraising, land sales, and future county and city ARPA funds.

“If you can learn to read, you can be very successful in life, and that is our goal,” said Greer Cooper.

Greer Cooper said the library branch in Republic is around 10,000 square feet and has one big room. She said they want to make it four times the size of the existing building.

Staff from Republic’s library said they clarified to state representatives that a larger library was needed for the expansive growth of Republic.

“Astronomical growth, the Republic, really just sort of gave off this alarm sound saying, we need something bigger,” said Republic Library’s branch manager, Tysha Shay.

Along with more books, Shay said they need a bigger library to support community events, businesses, and especially families.

“When families come in, the size and the space that we have for kiddos to really like be in and play is small,” said Shay,

Shay said this new space will ultimately allow more kids to flourish from reading.

“Providing programming with story times and other nature-related things, so they’re constantly engaged in not just early literacy, but also the world around them,” said Shay.

Library leaders said more renovations to the Library Center will include automated handling units. That way, you can pick up your books on hold. They’re also looking at self-check machines and more drive-up windows.

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