Still hoping to break ground in September, the Mohr Library’s board of trustees met on Wednesday, Aug. 12, to continue discussions of plans for the new library project.

Jon Anderson, director of the library, reported that he and Eric Ahlborg, project manager for the new library, met with representatives of the Champlin Foundation on Aug. 5 to request additional funding.

Anderson said the response was “very positive,” but the board doesn’t want to get ahead of themselves.

“They still need to present it to their committee,” Anderson said of the $236,390 that is needed to build an extra 500 square feet of space, which is an addition to the original library plan.

The library’s application has been referred to Champlin’s Distribution Committee for their decision, to be made at their annual meeting scheduled for November.

While the architectural plans are now finalized, members of the Friends of Mohr Library are hoping to make use of the surrounding areas of the new building. They would like to create an annex building for storage of books for the annual book sales. The annex could also be used as an extra program area.

Anderson also hopes to create an outdoor program area to be used in nice weather.

The library currently holds programs during the summer months outdoors, but in inclement weather, has to cancel the event or move it indoors to a larger space. The church hall of St. Robert Bellarmine Church and Our Lady of Grace Church are two alternate sites the library has used for larger attendance programs.

A recently scheduled event, an ice cream party to celebrate the end of the annual summer reading program, faced just that. It was postponed from Thursday, Aug. 13, due to rain; it has been rescheduled for this evening at 6:30 p.m. If bad weather strikes again, the event will be held at St. Robert Bellarmine Church, also on Atwood Avenue. But if additional space is a possibility, the library board believes problems like this will be avoided.

Anderson has created a blog to document the new library project, and publicize updates, at www.mohrlibrary.wordpress.com.