City votes to spend $500,000 to move south Wichita branch library
The Wichita City Council has approved $500,000 in funding to move a branch library to a site at the former Wichita Mall.
The city is relocating the current Linwood Branch Library to the former site of Ace Hardware at 4195 E. Harry.
The library is expected to open at the new site in the first three months of 2021, said Library Director Cynthia Berner.
It will mark a significant improvement in both visibility and technology, she said.
Because it will no longer be in the Linwood Recreation Center near Mount Vernon and Hydraulic, the library will be renamed.
The council appointed the city Library Board as the naming advisory committee, with input from the District 3 Advisory Committee.
The final decision will be made by the council.
The new library will have a larger footprint at 6,900 square feet. The current library branch “is not optimally located to serve the public as it is undersized and lacks visibility,” said a report to the council from the library department.
The city will lease the space for the new library at $49,000 a year. The landlord is upgrading rest rooms, electrical systems and climate control.
Of the $500,000 in spending approved Tuesday, the largest expense will be $315,000 for furniture and fixtures. The city will spend $100,000 for technology.
City Manager Robert Layton announced during the presentation that Berner will be retiring after 35 years in city service and that Tuesday’s presentation would be her last to the council.
Her tenure as library chief was capped by the successful transition from the former Central Library to the new Advanced Learning Library.
“She told me she wouldn’t retire until she got a library in District 3,” Layton said.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 11:08 AM.
