Video Transcript: Library Expansion
Miguel Freire: The Petit Branch Library has announced that it will be expanding its facility. The library will add a new community room that will provide the public with an opportunity to connect. Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon says the library’s high demand has made it clear that more space is needed to better serve the community.
Ryan McMahon: This is the busiest library we have in the city system. And as you can see there is not a great place to meet here. We are happy to announce today, with partnership with the county legislature, that we have secured funding to have an expansion of the library.
Freire: The library will expand 2,170 square feet and will include a community room that fits additional shelves, seating and contains a meeting room that fits approximately 60 to 70 people. The Executive Director of the Onondaga County libraries Amanda Perrine says this project has been in the works for a few years.
Amanda Perrine: We have been talking about this for a very long time. The New York State construction grant came through in about 2021 so we’ve been working on it and we are just honored that the county executive and his team have worked with us to help with everything because it is much needed and it’s been much needed for far longer than that.
Freire: Perrine adds the expansion is going to be wonderful for the community. In Syracuse, Miguel Freire, NCC News
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – The Petit Branch Library has announced that it will be expanding its facility.
The library will add a new community room to give people a place to connect in the community.
Ryan McMahon, the Onondaga County executive, held a press conference at the library to make the project official. He says the library’s high demand has made it clear that more space is needed to better serve the community.
“This is the busiest library we have in the city system, and as you can see, there is not a great place to meet here,” McMahon said. “We are happy to announce today, with partnership with the county legislature, that we have secured funding to have an expansion of the library.”
The library will expand 2,170 square feet and will include a community room that fits additional shelves, seating and contains a meeting room that will fit approximately 60 to 70 people.
Amanda Perrine, the executive director of the Onondaga County Libraries, says this project has been in development for a few years.
“We have been talking about this for a very long time,” Perrine said. “The New York State construction grant came through in about 2021 so we’ve been working on it and we are just honored that the county executive and his team have worked with us to help with everything because it is much needed.”
The expansion will help with community needs by allowing more people to take part in the numerous programs the library offers. Perrine says program attendance has been increasing and the expansion will make it possible to accommodate more people.
“Our program attendance has been going up by double digits this year percentage wise,” Perrine said. “We’ll be able to offer even more programs in a much better space.”
Once the project is completed, there will be quiet spaces for tutors and it will be available for nonprofit organizations to use for meetings.
Perrine adds that the expansion is going to be wonderful for the community.