Libraries in two Penobscot County communities will receive a total of $4.6 million in federal funding to expand and improve their facilities.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced on Monday the Orono Public Library will be awarded $3.6 million to fuel a $8.1 million expansion that would more than double the size of the existing building.
The Case Memorial Library in Kenduskeag is set to receive $1 million to build an entirely new library, according in Collins. The small existing library sits on the corner of Stetson Road and Kenduskeag Levant Road.
The awards are part of a larger $6.1 million lump sum that will be spread across five local libraries in Maine. The funding comes from the Agriculture and Rural Development and Agriculture and Rural Development Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills, which the Senate passed last week and will be signed into law on Saturday.
“These projects are a crucial step toward ensuring that Maine libraries are fully supporting the educational and workforce development needs of all Mainers,” Collins, who serves as the leading Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement on Monday.
The Orono library expansion would enlarge the building to 13,750 square feet from its current 6,500 square feet and create more space for children, groups, quiet reading, community gatherings, and staff, according to Alicia Nichols, campaign manager of the Orono Public Library Foundation, which is leading the project.
When the Orono library, which sits on the corner of Pine and Birch streets, opened in 2009, “we knew it was smaller than our community needed, and wanted,” Nichols said.
With $3.6 million in federal funding and $2.6 from the town, the Orono Public Library Foundation must raise another $1.9 million by May, Nichols said. Construction is set to begin in June 2025 and must wrap up by November 2026.
The other libraries receiving funding are Millinocket Memorial Library, the Porter Memorial Library Association in Machias, and the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor.
The Millinocket and Machias libraries will receive $115,000 and $820,000, respectively, to improve accessibility so the buildings comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Bar Harbor library will use its $600,000 award to fund an expansion.
