I got some really good news today at our department head meeting this morning. I think I have mentioned in the past that the library I work at has been trying to plan a building project that would help us get a larger home. It is a project the library has been working on since I was hired ten years ago. For various reasons, the project has been being pushed to the background.

We actually had a bond issue for it in 2006, and it lost by a very close margin. There had been a hope to repeat the vote in 2008, but with the struggling economy that did not go forward because everyone knew it was going to fail.

The big news is that the town is putting the project forward as one of the ones that will be used as an appeal for the Economic Recovery Act, the stimulus bill that will likely include a good sum of money for construction projects with the hopes of stimulating job growth. Apparently, construction is a huge source of employment with three jobs created to support each on site job. I did not realize.

One of the benefits in our favor is that ground could likely be broken with 45 days of the funds being awarded. We already have the land and pretty detailed plans. Basically, the only thing holding up the project is funding. Speed of starting a project is supposed to be very important with the target being the start within 120 days of awarding funds.

On the downside, libraries are not specifically highlighted in the language for the bill, and there is little interest in adapting the language. We could, in theory still get moneys, under the current wording.

It would be so ironic if we ended up getting our new library because we had actually given up all hope for it with the way things are right now.