New Fairdale Library Proposed in Mayor's Budget

by Stephanie Crosby.A new library and a library expansion are included in Mayor Jerry Abramson’s budget proposal, to be presented tomorrow afternoon to the Metro Council.The two-million dollar, brand new library in Fairdale would be built on property adjacent to the existing library. Abramson says it would be paid for with one-million dollar from this year’s capital budget and one-million dollars that was set aside in last year’s budget.Library Director Craig Buthod says the new Fairdale facility will look almost exactly like the library just constructed in Newburg.“I expect we’ll have three times as many public computers in the new library that we have here," says Buthod. "We’ll have at least twice, maybe three times the seating, so more students can come in at the same time. We’ll have more books and we’ll have more audio-visual materials, everything about the library will be upgraded.”Also included in the mayor’s budget proposal is a one-point-eight million dollar expansion of the Shawnee Library. That money is proposed to come from the federal Community Development Block Grant.The budget still must be approved by the Metro Council.