Life has few certainties. The popular adage contends there are only two, death and taxes. But we contend there is one more: everyone has a favorite book. Whether it takes you back to your earliest childhood memories like Robert McCloskey, reminds you there is good in the world like E.B. White, or makes you super glad there really is good in the world like Stephen King, the best books give us refuge.

In Scarborough, a town whose population has grown more than 10 percent in each of the past two censuses (and is predicted to have grown another 12 percent when the 2020 U.S. Census is released), we are on the path to creating refuge for those books — and much more — through the expansion of the Scarborough Public Library.

Our current facility was built 31 years ago. Since then, people have walked through our doors more than a million times. They’ve read, researched, surfed the web, learned, and built community, finding what they’ve needed even as our walls have closed in. We’ve known for years that as our town grows and the needs of our residents become more diverse, we will need more space.

The Town Council approved expansion planning funds in 2018 and the board has been hard at work ever since, developing a plan that will support the diverse needs in this growing community. To help our community members understand this expansion, we created a website (http://expansion.scarboroughlibrary.org). This resource takes you step-by-step from where we’ve been to where we are today and where we’re going in the future. And that future looks very bright.

Today, our library space planning consultant and architect are working together with an eye toward doubling our size with modern function in mind. We will:

• Design new spaces for our collections to make them more accessible — including space to start reading as soon as you find what you’re looking for.

• Expand our meeting rooms, which will be reservable after hours, prioritized for nonprofit groups, and available at affordable fees to our entrepreneurial community.

• Create better space for children and teens — without impacting the experience of other patrons.

• Connect our community through the expansion and investment in our computer lab.

• Provide space for local artists to show their work through the creation of gallery space.

• Institute “maker spaces” that promote creativity and innovation for people of all ages.

• Ensure staff have adequate space to do their work and serve our customers.

More information about all of these enhancements can be found on our website. We hope you’ll visit the site and follow our progress on our social media platforms.

In the meantime, know that we always do our best for our community with whatever space we have. We look forward to a day when our facility can fully meet your needs.

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