A fund has been started to raise money for a new library for the City of Arab.  City officials received the first donations earlier this week.  L-R: Librarian Kathy Handle, Friends of the Library Secretary/Treasurer Linda Widner, Mayor Gary Beam, Annie Pollock, and Arab Library Board Chairman George Pollock.                                             Arab Today Photo by Dwight Hayes

June 18, 2009
Every building project begins by laying a foundation upon which the rest of the structure is built.  $1,000 donations by the Arab Friends of the Library and by George and Annie Pollock have laid the foundation for  fundraising efforts that they hope will eventually lead to a new library facility being built on property recently purchased by the City for that purpose.  Arab Mayor Gary Beam accepted the checks on behalf of the City and said that a special account will be established for the current and future donations to the project.

The City recently completed the purchase of a little over four acres directly North of the Arab Senior Center that is expected to be the site of any future library.  The property was purchased from the Williams estate at at cost of just over $94,000.

Library Board Chairman, George Pollock said that he would like to see a committee formed to head up fundraising efforts and provided Mayor Beam with a list of possible members.  Beam said he was in favor of the committee and even added one name himself.  Beam promised go over the list and check into forming the committee within a few days.  Beam said it is going to take a community effort to raise money and to make a new library a reality.  He said that he has already contacted Senator Jeff Sessions, Congressman Robert Aderholt, and Alabama Senator Hinton Mitchem hoping to find funding.

Cost of the library envisioned by Beam and library staff is likely to run between 2-3 million dollars according to Beam.  He, Pollock, and Arab Librarian Kathy Handle recently toured the the library in Boaz.  Beam said he would like to see facility a similar to theirs.  He added that the Arab building would most likely include a basement which Boaz's building does not have.  Beam said, "The lay of the land would easily lend itself to a basement and would be valuable space at little additional cost."