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Library needs funds to expand into old fire station

Tiffany Tuell

(Updated: Friday, August 27, 2010, 12:59 PM)

Now that Madera County Fire Station No. 12 has moved from its old location adjacent to the Oakhurst Branch Library to a new facility off Highway 49, the Friends of the Oakhurst Branch Library is looking forward to a library expansion it has awaited for years.

"I'm bursting with joy," said Genie Krieghoff, a Friends member for 31 years. "We've been waiting for more room since 1990 and working on getting that space since 1999."

Ten years ago, library circulation began increasing 10% to 15% a year, said Candace Flammang, president of the Friends group.

"We have more than doubled our circulation," she said. "The community wants and needs our library, especially during difficult economic times. Oakhurst's citizens require a strong and spacious library, and Madera County has not been able to help expansion needs. You can see and feel that our library is squeezed into a very small space when you walk through the front door."

The old fire station's exterior will be redone, and the space formerly used for engines 12 and 212 will be made into a community room.

The library's Sue Rhu room will become a children's reading room, and the old fire station office will be turned into a conference room.

The space previously occupied by an ambulance at the south end of the building will be the new home for the Friends group.

For years, Friends members have worked out of a small room with no windows that was, at one time, a public restroom. The new area will provide space for processing incoming books that are donated to the library or sold at fundraising book sales.

The renovations, however, will not be possible without sufficient funds.

The Friends group, in cooperation with Madera County Resource Management Agency, has applied for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to remodel the fire station and are awaiting a response.

The group has matched the prospective grant with $70,000 from its building addition fund for the expansion makeover, Flammang said, and two more grants are pending.

The group also has set aside money for landscaping and refurbishing the entry into the old fire station.

"The Oakhurst Library remodel was at the top of the list in USDA grants because we had significant matching funds available," Flammang said. "This was possible due to (our) persistent efforts to increase our building addition fund through the years. Many local clubs and organizations have helped our building fund and we appreciate the community support and know that it made this project possible."

"The extra space in the library will make a huge difference in service to our community," said Dale Rushing, senior branch manager for the library "This library has been maxed out for years, which means no room for growth. The fire station will provide the extra room needed for a multiple of purposes."