Not wanting the public to feel locked out of the process, trustees have put a twist on the traditional request for architect proposals as they work toward the schematic design phase of the library expansion.

Trustees opted for a new building and to save a small historic portion that currently houses some staff office space. But there’s no design yet. That will come in the fall.

Forging ahead with plans to build a new structure, Woodstock Library trustees, at their February 15 meeting, formed a Build a Better Library Committee and drafted a preliminary timeline for the next steps.

With a new survey showing that only 27 percent of respondents favor tearing down the Woodstock Library building and replacing it with new construction, Woodstock Library Trustees are faced with deciding how to proceed.

Woodstock Library trustees adopted a resolution on June 15 that accepts the Master Facilities Plan report from consultants but is noncommittal on new construction or renovation of its existing facilities with an addition in the back.

“I think we’ve been getting input ad infinitum and I really feel we have enough information,” said the library board president. “We’re the ones in charge of looking out for the welfare of the library and I think the time has come to make a decision.”

Woodstock Library trustees have now discussed building anew and moving next to the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center as part of an expansion, an idea most board members agree has its share of problems but is worth exploring.

Woodstock Library trustees voted to further explore options for a new building while board President Dorothea Marcus remained adamant the move does not mean it is altogether abandoning a renovation.

Demolishing the library and building a new $5.75 million building, out; fixing the current building, in.

The cost would be $5.75 million.