RENOVATING THE LIBRARY
RENOVATING THE LIBRARY
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The Library is closed on Monday for Memorial Day
For over four decades, the Hawkins Memorial Library has stood as a cherished cornerstone of La Porte City, providing access to information, connections with one another, and enrichment for generations of residents. As our community continues to grow and evolve, so too must the institutions that serve it. In that spirit of growth and rejuvenation, the Board of Trustees is excited to announce that the Hawkins Memorial Library has adopted a new name: La Porte City Public Library.
This change is not made lightly. The Hawkins name carries deep community significance, honoring the generosity and dedication of Anna and Roy Hawkins, whose dedication helped lay the foundation for our Library’s enduring success. Their legacy will continue to be celebrated within the Library, with special recognition that preserves their important place in our history.
In early 1945, the LPC Lions Club worked with former Mayor Roy Hawkins to construct a community library. Roy appointed the first Board of Trustees, who raised funds for construction of a one-room library within City Hall. Starting with 100 books and a pledge of $1,000 from the LPC Lions Club, the Library was established in City Hall in October 1961 as the La Porte City Free Public Library. The Library enjoyed many fruitful years of service to the community, but as the community grew, the Library needed to be rejuvenated.
REBRANDING THE LIBRARY
REBRANDING THE LIBRARY
After the passing of Roy, Anna ensured her will left a massive endowment to the Library to create a new space. After Anna’s passing, her estate entrusted $80,578.43 on August 25, 1976, to Library Board Chairperson Ruth Redman by Bill St. Clair, executor of Anna’s estate and Anna’s brother. Full agency over the funds were bequeathed to the Board of Trustees.
Based on a community needs assessment, it was determined that a new facility was needed to house the expanding Library of at least 4,700 square feet. The Board of Trustees sought a bond of $90,000 to match the donation received by Anna Hawkins, but the bond failed. Unperturbed, the Board began construction at 308 Main St., which offered a much smaller space at approximately 3,200 square feet. Construction was complete on October 12, 1981, and City Council passed a resolution naming the building as the Hawkins Memorial Library.
Through this renovation, both Anna and Roy Hawkins will be honored through dedicated spaces and commemorative displays. The Board and Library Administration seek to ensure their contributions remain an integral part of our story. Anna, a former school teacher who was devoted to youth, will be honored by renaming the youth space to the Anna Hawkins Youth Area. Roy, who aided in the creation of the Library through community involvement, will be honored by renaming the meeting space to the Roy Hawkins Community Area.
Awaiting final vote from City Council in May 2025, the Library will adopt its new name as La Porte City Public Library. The fascia of the building will be cleaned
At the same time, this renaming opens the door to a broader recognition of all those who have supported the Library across the decades. Countless donors, volunteers, and community members have given their time, resources, and passion to help the Library thrive. By adopting the name La Porte City Public Library, we embrace a more inclusive identity that acknowledges the shared effort and generosity of our entire community.
WHY RENOVATE?
WHY RENOVATE?
Like the Board of Trustees in 1980, the current Board is moving to once again rejuvenate the Library, this time through a cosmetic renovation. From the 2014 Space Needs Assessment, the Library building is inadequately sized to meet current needs for collection development, public seating, public computing, and program space. To meet community needs, the Library would need to expand from its current ~3,200 square feet to ~9,000 square feet. Unable to meet the monetary needs for such an undertaking and with no adequately-sized buildings available downtown, the Library’s Trust Fund will be used to renovate the current building beginning in 2025.
PHASE I DETAILS
PHASE I DETAILS
Phase I begins potentially this month! You may notice contractors visiting the Library to prepare for the new changes. The biggest change will be to the Library's name. The current lettering on the fascia is set to be removed this month. New paint will be splashed onto the fascia to match the brick of the surrounding buildings, and new signage will be installed. This work is planned to be finished by the start of Festival of Trails or just after.
The rest of this summer will focus in preparing the collection and materials for migrating to our new library system, Insignia, which will occur in August.
Then, in September, we will begin to reduce programming and physically prepare the building. Officially, we will shut down beginning Monday, September 29.
While we are shut down, you will still have access to requesting books using our new system, Insignia. We will order books through the interlibrary loan system while we work temporarily in the FFA Historical & Ag Museum. More details will be announced later.
While Staff work in the Museum, Administration will collaborate with contractors and LPC Public Works throughout October and November on the following items:
Replacing the ceiling tiles
Replacing the carpet
Repainting the walls
Removing broken and damaged furniture for new furniture
Installing new furniture
Shifting the collection to make room for construction
Installing new apparatuses
From the artist renderings, you can see the new furniture being added to the building. Below is a list of that furniture:
Anna Hawkins Youth Area:
Additional shelving for nonfiction, junior fiction, and seasonal books
New couch
New seating areas with mobile tables
A new crafts table with stools and built-in storage for immediate activity supplies, including the Magformers
Staff Areas
New staff printer (installed in April 2025)
New Access Services and Welcome Desk with dedicated staff space and dedicated, ADA-compliant guest space
New workroom sink
Computing Station
Rearranged printer and computer stations (finished in April 2025)
Replacement table
Full access to the public copier, fax, and printer
Access to available technology for checkout
Studio & Study Room
Table with seating for four (installed April 2025)
New countertop and cabinets for storing new devices and technology for in-house use and for checkout
TV for displays
Whiteboard
Main Floor Space & Stacks
New, mobile comfort seating with tables
New shelves for DVDs and other media
New displays for new books and themed-displays
Rearranged book stacks with genre stickers
Roy Hawkins Community Area:
New, flipping and mobile tables
New comfort seating
New coffee station
The Library has a very tentative reopening date of January 2026, but this date is highly dependent on construction timetables and the Staff's ability to complete their work on the books. Every item in the Library needs to be inventoried and relabeled, which takes considerable time. Additionally, the stacks will be physically moved twice to accommodate construction needs (please see more details in how you can help listed below!!).
Everything in Phase I is being paid using the Library Board of Trustee's Trust Fund, which was grown to ~$165,000 from your donations and contributions over the past four decades. We are grateful to you for your time, effort, and generosity. Your efforts are what all us to rejuvenate and reinvigorate the Library that aligns with our new Mission Statement, Core Values, and Vision, which is outlined in our new Strategic Plan for FY26-30.
PHASE II DETAILS
PHASE II DETAILS
Phase II is dependent on further funding and outstanding grant applications. Assuming the Library receives appropriate funding, Phase II will include the following items:
Glass wall separating the Roy Hawkins Community Area into the Roy Hawkins Community Room, which can be booked for presentations, conference meetings, and other uses; the glass wall will allow for additional programming that won't disrupt other functions in the Library
Electric fireplace in the Community Room to create an atmosphere of comfort
New, large TV for presentations in the Community Room
New coffee makers and supplies for the new coffee station from Phase I
New computers and tablets for the Anna Hawkins Youth Area
New computers for the Computing Station
One Mac computer for the Studio & Study Room
New studio equipment, including the following
Cricut Cutter
Digitization Equipment
Recording Equipment
Green Screen Equipment
Photography Equipment
Full Adobe Creative Cloud Software
More!
New water fountain with a bottle filler
New laptops and other Library of Things devices for checkout
Grant applications are pending, but we are hopeful that our requests for Phase II will be fulfilled!
HOW YOU CAN HELP
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We are ALWAYS in need of adult and teen volunteers, beginning at age 13! To become a Library Volunteer, please visit our Volunteer Page for details.
For the Renovation plan, the Library will soon post an Amazon Wish List for items that you can purchase for us or contribute to purchasing. We also accept monetary donations of any size.
Lastly, we will post several calls for helping hands! We will need MANY volunteers to help us physically move the books and shelves twice. Rather than moving the entire collection of nearly 17,000 items for the renovation, we plan to move the collection around the building, which will save on moving expenses and external storage expenses, but will require the labor. As you know, many hands make light work. Please continue to follow us on Facebook and check for updates while we renovate. We will list possible dates for volunteers.
Thank you for your endless support of your public library! We are here for you, and we appreciate your generosity and dedication.
For questions, please contact Jake Rochford-Volk, Library Director at 319-342-3025 or jake-rochford-volk@lpcpubliclibrary.org. You are also welcome to attend meeting with the Board of Trustees on the second Monday of each month beginning at 5:30pm. For details and the agenda, please visit the Board's webpage.
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