By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The libraries in Brandon and Salisbury received notice this week that they had been awarded grants from the U.S. Treasury Department through the Vermont Department of Libraries for capital projects at their respective facilities.
The Brandon Free Public Library (BFPL) was awarded $1,406,936 for the installation of the four-story elevator and other improvements for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and energy efficiency.
The Salisbury Free Public Library (SFPL) was awarded $978,807 for the repair of its HVAC system, new plumbing, and renovations for ADA compliance.
Brandon and Salisbury were two of fourteen grants to public libraries in Vermont from the VT Dept of Libraries, which was responsible for choosing the projects through a competitive application process after receiving a total of $15.9 million from the U.S. Treasury Department as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The grants ranged in size from $483K to $1.5 million and were awarded to libraries in 11 Vermont counties.
“These one-time, substantial grants will address critical building improvements,” wrote Catherine Delneo of the VT Dept of Libraries in the agency’s public announcement of the awards. “The need for maintenance, repairs, and modernization in public library buildings throughout Vermont remains high and the Department will continue to seek sustained opportunities for funding capital projects for Vermont’s public library building infrastructure.”
BFPL recently returned to its historic building on Park Street after a massive renovation that included the addition of an elevator and ADA-compliant restrooms.
“We’re very grateful to the Vermont Department of Libraries and the U.S. Treasury Department for recognizing the importance of this project,” said BFPL Board President David Roberts. “Combined with all of our other fundraising, this grant now fully funds phases 1 and 2 of our renovation. We’re also in the final stages of obtaining the additional funds we received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through Senator Welch, for the completion of phase 3, which will include the attic and basement. We hope to begin that phase next summer.”
Alissa Shethar, the librarian at the Salisbury Library, was not available for comment before press time.
