The Brandon Public Library will be expanded after a 10-year fundraising effort raised $1.2 million including a $473,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.
USDA Rural Development Wisconsin State Director, Julie Lassa, alongside other local officials, visited the village of Brandon June 19 to celebrate the start of construction.
“This building has a rich history in the community. It first served as a retail business in 1894, then evolved into the village hall and fire department in 1897 and has been the public library’s home since 1913,” said Lassa. “USDA Rural Development and the Biden-Harris Administration are proud to partner with the Friends of the Brandon Public Library to help fund this expansion project which will improve access for current and future patrons.”
A $473,000 USDA Community Facilities Grant will be used towards a 1,334-square-foot addition to the first floor of the historic building. Other improvements include new lounge seating, reading areas, workspaces, a community meeting room, additional computer workstations, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant restrooms, and additional shelf space for more resources.
The picturesque building, complete with a bell tower, is listed on both the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.
Completion of the expansion project is tentatively scheduled for June 2025.
The Brandon Public Library began as a cold storage building and harness shop built in 1894 by Charles R. Ellis, a local village merchant. In 1897, the building was sold to the village of Brandon, which made the upper level into the Village Hall and the lower level into a one-room fire department with an addition to the roof – the bell tower.
By 1912, the Thursday Club, a local women’s club of “social and intellectual culture”, along with other local clubs stressed the need for Brandon to have a free Public Library which would be located on the lower level of the old Ellis Block. Funds were granted by the village to remodel the front room, and on March 27, 1913, the Brandon Public Library opened for the first time.
