New Lansdale Public Library Director Shira Pilarski poses next to a display case in the library on Tuesday, Sept. 26 2023. (Credit: Dan Sokil – MediaNews Group)
Lansdale Borough Council voted ahead this week an application seeking grant funding for renovations to the Lansdale Public Library.
No design for the renovations has been finalized yet, according to library Director Shira Pilarski, but the town’s library committee has begun to work with Blue Bell-based architectural firm Kimmel-Bogrette, which is currently hosting a series of public meetings for a similar library revamp in Norristown., to rough develop cost estimates.
The grant application lists “major interior renovations and improvements…including updates to the restrooms, the creation of breakout rooms and study pods, relocation of the children’s library, updates to the young adult library, office area improvements, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades,” and asks for $2 million from the state’s COVID-19 ARPA Multi-Purpose Community Facility Program.
“We don’t know exactly what the scope of the renovation would be — there are a lot of things that could be done. Bare minimum, the inside of the main floor of the library will have a refresh,” Pilarski said.
Borough Manager John Ernst also announced that over 30 entries have been received for a contest seeking a new logo for the library, and Pilarski said the results of that contest will be announced in the near future, and a revamp of the library’s website is currently in the works.
Personnel changes coming soon
Those renovations will likely be overseen by someone else: the borough has listed two new job openings for department heads since the start of April, seeking a new library director and a new finance director.
Pilarski, who took over the library in September 2023, said her final day will be in June and her departure is due to a family work opportunity in another state, and current finance director Glenn Dickerson, who arrived in August 2021, said his last day will be in mid-May. Ernst said those departures could be discussed more during public meetings closer to those departure dates, and said interviews are ongoing for a new public works director to fill that position which has been open since winter.
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