SELBYVILLE, Del. -- Three months after state and local officials gathered to break ground on the site of the new Selbyville Public Library building, construction still has not begun.
The initial plan was to build a 14,000 square-foot library, funded by state and federal funding. Nearly $7 million comes from the American Rescue Plan Act and another $6 million from the state bond bill. Construction was slated to start in the fall or winter of 2023.
According to Selbyville Public Library Director Kelly Kline, the delay has been caused by a need for more funding and supply chain issues.
"There's still potential for delay just because it is a really strange time in the market and just global markets," says Kline.
In addition, library officials recently purchased a house and plot of land just west of the current library building, in order to expand the size of the new building and add more space for parking. Kline says the purchase will add up to 1,600 square-feet to the current layout. However, it has also resulted in an increased cost for the project.
"While we've done things like add this piece of property, there are still some things that we can do," says Kline. "We're doing value engineering, we'll be doing some fundraising to try to keep the cost down and cover fluctuations in the market and those kinds of things."
As for the federal and state funding library officials have already received, Kline says it's not enough.
"That money is specifically for building the new library," says Kline. "Not a cent of it can go to operating this library or the new one. So we are still looking for fundraising opportunities for operating this new building once we have it."
One of the fundraising opportunities that Kline mentioned is the 2023 "Do More 24 Delaware" fundraiser, a 24-hour day of giving designed to help non-profits raise money. Delawareans can go online and donate beginning on March 2, 2023 at 6 p.m. until March 3, 2023 at 6 p.m.