The Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library in Brundidge will soon be twice as big and offer twice as much to its patrons.

Shelving is being installed and furniture is being placed in the recently completed library expansion that adds about 15,000-square-feet to the existing facility. The library addition will double the size of the public library.

Head librarian Jean Carroll said she and the library staff are excited about the growth of the library and the advantages that it will offer to the community.

“The new addition will include a meeting room, a testing area, work room, a lounge area for reading and restroom facilities,” Carroll said. “We will also have a kitchen that can be utilized during group meetings. The addition will make it possible for us expand our programming and to be a more available resource for the community.”

Both the original library building and the addition will house reading materials.

“Most of the computer labs will be in the addition and the audio-visuals will be in the original library facility,” Carroll said.

The children’s area will remain in the original building and will be expanded to accommodate both the day-to-day library offerings and the children’s summer library program.

Carroll said the expansion project has been on the drawing board for quite some time but, when the addition is completed, it will be “well worth the wait.”

Sara Bowden, library board president, said that the addition will be a wonderful complement to the Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library.

“Our library is a tribute to a man who sacrificed in order to give to the citizens of Brundidge,” Bowden said. “I don’t know how many young people received college educations because of him. There is no way to know all of the things that Tupper Lightfoot did for the citizens of Brundidge.”

Bowden said that Lightfoot had a huge collection of books that he willingly and eagerly loaned and gave away at a time when there was no public library in Brundidge. It is fitting that his home now houses the library that is open to all, Bowden said.

“The addition to the Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library will make our public library more useable in that any age person can easily find what they want,” Bowden said. “It will provide more space for reading and reference materials, audio-visual aids and technology while preserving the heritage of the building.”

Carrying on the tradition of the architectural style of the building was important when the addition was being planned, Bowden said.

“We wanted to use the same type architecture of the library because that style is not being done much anymore,” she said. “The city employees who worked on the building did a beautiful job of replicating the gingerbread work and other features of the historic house. Our city government has been very supportive and we are so appreciative of this addition to the library. It will greatly benefit our citizens and the many others who utilize it.

“The Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library is a beautiful, functional and comfortable place.”

No date has been set for the grand opening and dedication of the library addition.