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M,
to mar Kip 1 years of reM progress
By DAN BARBER
AS,
41
. j®1
Forty one years ago, the Bay St. Louis city-county public library started | with 200 books literally on the floor of a [ room donated by the Hancock Bank.
Sunday hundreds of people are expected to witness ground breaking ceremonies for a new quarter million dollar facility which will contain not less than 25,000 volumes.
Ceremonies will be conducted at 4:00 p.m. at the construction site on Highway 90 next to Crosby Furniture.
The' new library, which will be ■ located on a lot bordered on the south by Ulman Ave.t the north by Highway 90 and the east by Crosby Furniture, is | being financed through a matching 60-40 federal grant. Construction is expected to be completed in January, i 1976.	4
The lot the library will sit on was j purchased by the first library board of trustees for $17,000 and dedicated Dec.
1, 1967.	j
It’s truly a dream come true for ^ many. The original application for v $100,000 filed April 3, 1967 with the Mississippi Library Commission was a long time coming. But when it did, the . county was suddenly faced with a . tremendous opportunity.
Word of a $204,000 grant was received^ in January, 1974. To meet the matching 60-40 grant, the county pledged a Vfe milL to the library for a period of five years. This pledge was given in 1971. The city of Bay St. Louis pledged $25,000 and the j city of Waveland, $4,000. Together the three entities matched the federal, money.
The new facility will be a completely fireproof white stucco building, car^i peted in the main reading areas, and jj featuring a separate meeting room with ^ a seating capacity of 50-60 people open* to community activities.
The library, which covers 10,500';
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square feet, is designed to accomodate'*’ local area needs for at least 10 years. Architect Fred Wagner of Bay St.' Louis, who designed the structure, said_ the facility was designed to utilize' every square foot of space in the rather!! peculiarly shaped lot.
Main entrance to the structure will face Highway 90, but a separate access will be located on Ulman Ave. to accomodate groups using the meeting room only. Wagner* said the library would be built so that the main part of the library can be closed off from the meeting area if necessary.
Inside the building, sec-tionalized areas will reflect j the patron’s interest. Design | calls for a children’s area, a magazine and leisure area, a , reference area, a local history , and rare books room, an adult reading area, built-in checkout desk, public display centers, restrooms,, librarian’s office and work | area, and employee and j faculty lounge area.	i
Plans call for coordinating furniture and walls. The entire structure is designed so _ that the library can be ex-j panded if necessary, ac-, cording to library board ( president Linda Haas.
The structure, which is being built by contractor George P. Hopkins of Gulfport^ under bid of $259,800, • is^* scheduled for completion 180 ‘ days from issuance of a work ! order. Estimated completion (
_time is Jan. 15.
Complementing the library’
will be a staff of eight, including a new librarian, Mrs. ‘t Prima Wusnack. Working ■ with Mrs. Wusnack will be H Mrs. Alice Prindiville, who * has served as coordinator fori the library since 1969, and Mrs. Edith Humphreys" library assistant and former coordinator since 1965. The? staff also includes Mrs^fj Mildred Means, who operates"’! the Waveland branch two days a week, two bookmobile: drivers, one summer em-V<J ployee and Mrs. Grace"! Rhodes, who performs general library work. •
Facilities available in the, new library will include
new electric book charging'] machines, a copy machine, a ] microfilm reader and prin-’ i tout, film projector and | screen, talking machine for 1 the blind, phonograph machines and records.	,
Tables, chairs, shelving, | indexes, filing cabinets, and « other equipment will all be I purchased for the library at an J additional cost of ap- i proximately $40,000.	|
One of the biggest assets of 1 the new library was acquired j last August however. It is a ^ new 27 foot bookmobile j’ acquired with revenue sharing funds by the county for $22,000. The bookmobile travels all over the county and has a capacity of 3,000 books.
“This is really the people’s library,” said Mrs. Haas about the new facility. * | “Everyone has done so much < to make this happen, and we I are so grateful to everyone who has worked for this. We() hope that everyone will come ’ out Sunday for our groundbreaking.”
Other board members, who will be present Sunday, include William Tate III, Paul White Jr., Mrs. Fred McDonald, and Mrs. Louise C. Lynch.
Original trustees appointed in 1966 included Mrs. E. C. Samuel, president; Mrs. Robert L. Hamilton, Mrs.J Gertrude Stanton, Mrs.1 William Hilliker, and Mrs. Lloyd B. Griffith._________
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