The Fayetteville Public Library is going to double in size now that the board of trustees approved the contract to buy the old city hospital land on Monday (Oct. 29).
The land, bought from the Washington Regional Medical Center, is going to be used to expand the library. Plans include a new auditorium, more study rooms and new technology.
"The things that we're talking about doing in the future is a digital commons area that would hopefully be open 24 hours a day for individuals, it would have access to 3-D printers and some sophisticated computing technologies," David Johnson, executive director of the library, said.
There have been multiple public forums to receive feedback on what the public wants in the expansion, Johnson said.
The $2 millions dollar purchase of the land is funded by donations that were given to the library's foundation. There isn't a dollar amount on how much the expansion will cost yet, according to Johnson.
Currently the library is 88,000 square feet and the new part of the library is estimated to be around 80,000 square feet.
The expansion would include more parking and would bridge over Rock Street, which is located between the two plots of land that the library would be located on.
Johnson said he hopes the process would be finished in about five years.
"We're looking at trying to expand the library for the future; being a library that's sustainable 20 years from now," Johnson said.
The library's master plan can be read here.