the friends of the library - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T13:07:56Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/the+friends+of+the+libraryBoca Raton: Friends’ hefty donation contingent on a bigger libraryhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-friends-hefty2011-05-04T17:38:56.000Z2011-05-04T17:38:56.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p><span><b>By Margie Plunkett</b></span></p>
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<p>The Friends of the Library in Boca Raton want a bigger footprint for the new public library than initially proposed and are willing to give the city a $250,000 gift to do it.</p>
<p>The gift will support 1,250 more gross square feet — 800 net after space for walls, mechanical and restrooms are factored in — and the Friends want it to be used to increase the used-book store in the planned facility to 1,600 square feet from 1,200. The balance of the added space would be used to enlarge the library’s multipurpose room.</p>
<p>“It has always been our intent to buy additional space and not to provide an additional burden to the city of Boca Raton,” said Judith Teller-Kaye, the Friends’ liaison to City Council.</p>
<p>Teller-Kaye made it clear that if the library wasn’t made bigger, the Friends wouldn’t donate the money. </p>
<p>“It is a gift contingent on enlarging the footprint of the library, to increase the size,” she said, explaining the money came to the Friends as a bequest. “We believe the city of Boca Raton is entitled to a larger library.”</p>
<p>Ian Nestler of architect design firm PGAL gave an overview of the library, showing off a 40,000-square-foot proposal that sits on the corner of Second Avenue and Fourth Street to give it a more urban setting . </p>
<p>Cost of the building is about $200 per gross square foot.</p>
<p>The library, which houses children’s, youth and adult book collections, will have parking for 200 cars, a covered front entry with a drive-up book drop and a community park on the east side. </p>
<p>The building takes advantage of the “wonderful light to the north,” Nestler said. The facility is organized on a diagonal that cuts from end to end to bring in the light, he added. </p>
<p>The area with the bookstore and multipurpose room is in the vicinity of an entrance and can remain open even when the rest of the library is closed.</p>
<p>The Friends are working with the city to provide an operating agreement that would protect the city on providing income from the bookstore on an ongoing basis. </p>
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