Members of the Warsaw Community Public Library Board of Trustees talk before the Monday, March 11 meeting.

Text and Photos
By Patrick Webb
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The Warsaw Community Public Library will host the American Library Association’s traveling exhibit “Americans and the Holocaust,” and the WCPL Board has formed a renovation committee.

At the WCPL’s Monday, March 11, meeting, WCPL Director Heather Barron shared the WCPL was chosen to host the ALA’s traveling exhibit “Americans and the Holocaust.”

“WCPL is going to be one of 15 libraries to get to host,” said Barron. One hundred and fifty public and university libraries applied. The display should be hosted in June or July 2026. More information will be available in the near future.

The board also discussed plans for either renovating the current building or relocating. According to the WCPL’s website, the current building dates back to 1917 and was funded with a $15,000 Carnegie grant.

The Warsaw Community Public Library’s current building, built in 1917.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on the building,” said WCPL Board Chair Chris Merrill. “And one of the things that we want to answer is should we do that here, or should we be looking for another place to set up shop?”

The board approved the formation of a Renovation Exploration Committee, which will meet to look at options and report updates at the board’s monthly meetings. A decision must be made before a bond can be created, Merrill told the board. Merrill said the goal is to have a decision made by July.

WCPL Board Member Tim Keyes, WCPL Board Secretary Cathi Zdenek and WCPL Board Treasurer Ben Rice volunteered to form the committee.

In other news, the board:

• Approved rescheduling the April meeting from April 8 to April 15, in observance of the eclipse.
• Discussed adding an Employee Assistance Program to the library’s insurance plan to cover counseling sessions for staff and family.
• Discussed raising the non-resident fee later in the year from $96 to $100 per year, based on an Indiana State Library formula of current expenditures per capita. Collection development expenditures went up from 16% to 21%, Barron reported.
• Announced that Blue Note Design, Winona Lake, will design the library’s new logo.
• Announced that Digital Hill, Nappanee, will redesign the library’s website.
• Discussed the rummage sale held last weekend.

The WCPL Board will next meet at 4 p.m. Monday, April 15, at the library.