A group working to put a library in Dexter is raising money to fund construction costs associated with the project. The library will open with a collection of 20,000 books being stored in Burden.
So far about $20,000 worth of lumber has been purchased for Lighthouse Library, according to project coordinator Lynn Pettigrew Norris. Funds are needed to help pay a $50 per day fee for a local carpenter working on the project.
“We’re out of money at the moment,” Pettigrew Norris said. “We’ll need more donations to keep the project going.”
The daily fee covers the usage of tools and the carpenter’s drive to Dexter. Volunteers are needed to assist the carpenter and funding is needed for each day of construction.
The library will be located in the old Shadid Storefront. The building at 104 S. Main was also home to the original Dexter movie theater.
The donation of a heating and air unit for the library is also needed.
“That’s one of the last big items hanging over our head,” Pettigrew Norris said.
Everyone who donates at least $25.00 has their name put into a drawing. The drawing is for the first night’s stay in the Grouse Valley Lodge ? a unit on site that is set up to help raise sustaining funds to pay the heating bill once the library is open. The weekend package will include dinner at The Gathering Place and pizza delivered to the lodge from the Dexter Mini Mall. Also included in the package will be a tour of Henry’s Candy and a sample basket of their products along with other local crafters’ products.
Donations should be sent to the Eastern Cowley County Resource Center’s Lighthouse Library fund, P.O. Box 67038. For questions, call Lynn Pettigrew Norris at (620) 438-3333.