A $2.3 million expansion of the Westlink Library and finding a new home for the Linwood Library are among the highlights of a master plan for what to do with satellite branches, now that the new downtown library is up and running.
In contrast to earlier plans that envisioned shrinking the library system and closing the Linwood and Evergreen branches, the new plan envisions putting at least $185,000 into each of the six satellite libraries.
The overall cost is just short of $3.7 million. The plan was presented publicly for the first time during a joint meeting of the City Council and the Library Board on Tuesday.
Drafted by a subcommittee of the two boards and city staff, it was also the first look for most of the members of the panels.
They seemed to like what they saw.
“I think it’s good we’re looking at expansion and improvement of the libraries instead of closing them, which is where we were a year ago,” said Library Board member Jonathan Winkler. “It does the best we can within the financial constraints.”
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)