WELLSBURG -- There may soon be a little more room to stretch out while enjoying the latest page-turner in this Grundy Center town.

After years of discussion, the Wellsburg Library Board is launching a new fundraising drive to replace their current quarters.

"It's been going on long enough," said Todd Rempe, board president. "It's time to get the ball rolling."

Library Director Julie Stratton said the library doesn't have enough space to house everything they need. Some sections of the library are growing so fast, such as Christian literature, that they can't make adequate accommodations for readers.

"Some of our sections are exploding," she said.

Stratton said she's tried to arrange things at the library in a "cute and personable manner," but that hasn't alleviated her space problems.

The library board hired Ralph Savoy of Consult Savoy in Cedar Rapids to help them out with the fundraising drive. Savoy has worked with other northeast Iowa libraries on their projects.

About $200,000 has been committed to the campaign. Rempe said the board also plans on applying for grants from the state and private non-profit groups to help them out.

Rempe said the new building is roughly three times the size of the current library.

Years ago, the library board purchased property on Main Street for the new 6,000-square-foot facility. A building standing on the property was torn down, but the board saved its foundation. That will be re-used for the next structure.

Both Rempe and Stratton said the library is an important attraction for the town. Like most communities, Wellsburg has gone through changes. Businesses closed, school districts shifted priorities. But the library remained.

Rempe said the location on Main Street will be an important reminder of that.

The plans for the new library include a gathering room for up to 100 people. Rempe said the room will help fill a need for the community, since there are few places in Wellsburg for groups like book clubs to meet.

Stratton said she has a knitting circle that comes to the library on a regular basis. There isn't much room for them, though.

"They like to be here because it's cozy," she said.

The larger room should give them more room to lay down their needles.

Rempe said the library will feature a room housing an unusual set of genealogical records for East Frisian immigrants, an ethnic group originally based in Germany along the North Sea coast. Many Wellsburg residents have East Frisian descendants

Rempe said it's also one of the most complete set of records regarding East Frisian immigration in this country. The library gets several visitors a year inquiring on them, he said.

"I think that's something the community can emphasize in the future that we're not, because of space limits," Rempe said.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.