New library may be in the cards for Gibson County

TRENTON, Tenn. — “We really want to get the ball rolling on that new library,” Lindsey Ingram, Director of the Gibson County Library, said.

The library has run out of room, and Ingram says that is depriving the people of Gibson County.

“We’re seeing a lot more patrons come in with different needs,” Ingram said. “Libraries are changing. We’re not in the book business — we’re in the people business.”

That’s why the Gibson County Library Board wants to build a brand new library.

The building they’re in now was built in 1968.

Library officials say one of the biggest problems they’re facing is there’s just not enough room. They have to shut down part of the library at least once a week for their children’s reading time, which means people without internet access at home can’t use the computers.

And it’s not just books they need more room for.

“We have no room for meetings,” Regional Library board member Dr. Beverly Youree said. “This is the children’s area in here. We have no room to do activities or programs without displacing other activities that are ongoing at the library.”

And the plan isn’t to just add a few rooms. “We’ll need 19,000 to 26,000 square feet for just the public use space,” Ingram said. “Right now, our building is 5,200 square feet total, so you’re looking at quadrupling that number.”

Ingram says people sometimes come to the library when they have nowhere else to turn. “We want to let people know what we’re doing, and we care about the community. We care about their needs, and we’re going to do whatever we can to help them,” she said.

The board has a library consultant coming in at the end of the month to assess their needs before they take their plan to the County Commission.

The library will hold a soup and chili fundraiser with a silent auction Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church in Trenton. All the money raised will go toward the new library.