Georgetown, Del., April 1, 2008: Sussex County officials will join with Sen. Thomas R. Carper and the Friends of the South Coastal Library for a groundbreaking event this month to celebrate a multimillion expansion of the facility.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, April 11, at the South Coastal Library on Kent Avenue in Bethany Beach. County Administrator David B. Baker will join Sen. Carper, members of the Friends group and other dignitaries for the ceremony to celebrate the renovation and expansion of the County-owned facility.

In January, work began to more than double the size of the current 10,000-square-foot building. The expansion will give the 12-year-old library room for its growing collection – now at more than 44,000 items -- and add much-needed space for meetings and cultural events.

Construction is expected to be complete in early 2009. In the interim, the library has relocated to a temporary facility at Creekside Plaza, 203 Atlantic Avenue, Suites 9 &10, in Millville.

The expansion also will allow library staff to add computers and improve other amenities at the facility. Funding for the overall design and construction project will total a little more than $6 million, with $3 million of the funding coming from the State, $1.5 million from Sussex County government and up to $2 million from the Friends of the South Coastal Library group.

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