Letter to the editor of THE STAR, printed September 7, 2015

To the editor:

At the time of the dedication of the Waterloo Grant Township Library, it looked like all of the work was done. Most of it was, but the punch list is still being worked on, and we have $138,234.16 in bills waiting to be paid.

Because the community, the Indiana Historical Society and the Library Board wanted to maintain the “Carnegie” portion of our library, the cost of maintaining its identity caused a 27 percent cost overrun because all of the mechanics in the building had to be upgraded. That cost could not be accurately predicted at the beginning of the project. There were also many change orders in the new building to make it more user-friendly. The shortage of funds was caused mostly by receiving less than anticipated pledges and a lengthy delay caused by a utility company.

We would like to thank whole-heartedly those of you who helped us with the initial fundraising project. We will continue to solicit funds, write grants and tighten our financial belt to meet our obligation. We would invite you to come in and look over your new library; we believe that you will be very proud of the changes.

Andrew Carnegie said, “There was no better use to which money could be applied so productive of good, as the founding of a public library in a community which is willing to support it.” Please contact any of the board of trustees or the director of the library if you can find it in your heart and budget to help us to satisfy our debt.

Waterloo Library Board of Trustees

Darryl Whittington, President
Sue Neal, Vice President
Roderick Pressler, Treasurer
Jan Hoffmeister, Secretary
Anita Diehl, Member
Kate Mason, Member
Mavis Sutton, Member
Linda Dunn, Director