Frequently Asked Questions
What's the history of this project?
For more than 20 years, there have been efforts in the Hanover community and here at the library to create a branch library in Hanover.
Mid-1980s.
In late 1984, the library Board of Trustees, having received enthusiastic encouragement from the school board and the Hanover town council, attempted to purchase a bank building at 270 E. Main St. in Hanover. This building was next to the post office and across the street from a grocery store. Unable to negotiate an acceptable price, the Board then investigated the possibility of using space in the community building at the Hanover Park. In January, 1985 architect Ted Williams presented a blueprint and discussed the possibility of enclosing the outdoor area of the community building. These plans were discussed with the Hanover Park Board and it was agreed to look into cost factors. At the same time director Dennis Babbitt informed the library Board that a laundromat had come on the market and might be a possibility for a branch location.
January, 1986 finds the library posting projects for the new year, 1986. Number 1 on the list is: “Development of a Five-Year Plan for purposes of establishing a branch.” In May, 1986, the library board rejected an offer from Madison Bank & Trust on the First Bank branch building at $75,000.
Mid-1990s.
In late 1995, the director was contacting other directors who budgeted for branch libraries for information on operating costs. Informal inquiries were made by town council members regarding placing a public library on the grounds of the Southwestern School Corporation. In 1996, a group of citizens, the Hanover Library Committee, conducted a survey that collected 285 responses.
Today’s plans.
In July 2006, as part of its interior renovation plans for 420 W. Main Street, the library commissioned a feasibility study for future services. One of the recommendations of that study was that two additional libraries should be built within the county by 2023. The “west library” was recommended to be in the works by 2009; the “east library” to be planned by 2023.
Renewed activity began in 2007. Main Source Bank was approached by Martha McNeeley and Margaret Seifert with a request that the Madison Bank and Trust building located on Highway 56/62 at Madison Avenue in Hanover be donated for use as a branch library of Jefferson County Public Library. Bank officials offered the building to the library for $75,000 — roughly 20 percent of its appraised value.
By spring 2008, the library board had requested sample budgets to show that a branch library could be operated without adding more tax burden to property owners’ tax bills. Having discussed an operating budget and having received information from Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (SIRPC) regarding grants available to communities for such projects, the board decided to continue efforts to obtain the building and to establish library services in Hanover.
In May 2008, director Charlene Abel presented our project to the Hanover Town Council and they agreed to sponsor the grant application for the Community Focus Fund Grant.