Austin City Council discusses grant to help fund improvements at Austin Public Library

The Austin City Council discussed a proposal submitted by Head Librarian Julie Clinefelter at their work session Monday evening for a competitive Minnesota state grant process that would fund improvements to the Austin Public Library building.  Austin Mayor Steve King spoke with KAUS during the “Meet the Mayor” segment of “Wright Here, Right Now” and gave kudos to Clinefelter for seeking the grant dollars for the project….

A grant of $319,800 was awarded by the state of Minnesota for the project, which will be matched by $250,000 in city funds that have been set aside for library renovations, coupled with nearly $70,000 in donations to the library to fund the total project cost of $639,600.  The grant will allow the library to redo the front service desk, add meeting and tutoring rooms, increase lighting, and add an indoor/outdoor amphitheater with an outdoor stage for presentations and events.