WAUPUN — The Waupun Public Library has been looking into creating a study and small meeting room in the upstairs area of the building.
The matter was discussed at the City Council during the department reports, where Library Director Bret Jaeger gave a brief summary about what’s been going on at the library over the last month.
Attached to the meeting agenda was a short report from the Library regarding the new study room which could fill the needs for local residents who need a more sound-proof location to work.
“Over the years we have seen a need for a small, quiet area on the second floor,” the report said. “We have started to look into study/small meeting pods from various companies, which could hold up to six people. Another option could be to build sound-dampening glass walls in the northeast corner for such a room. We are just starting to investigate options to see what is, and what is not, feasible.”
There are several locations around the upstairs of the library that could be turned into study rooms by sectioning them off, including the windowed southeast corner and the current Wisconsin reference section. However, one issue with sectioning off these locations, particularly the southeast section, is how hot the location gets during the day and a lack of proper ventilation to completely wall off.
The library does currently offer bookable meeting rooms, such as the Hillyer Room (previously the Large Conference Room) and the Carnegie Room. However both of these rooms were made for large meetings and lectures and are not entirely suitable for a quiet study space. Previously there was a smaller Shaler Room, but it has been repurposed for staff use due to space issues in the back offices and is currently used for creating projects.
Whether the Library will go for building a glass wall or buying a pre-made pod is yet to be seen, with no projections on when the new study room will be set up and ready for public use.
Jaeger also mentioned two other recent projects in his report. On February 15, the Department of Public Works moved the Clarence Shaler painting “Geese in Flight” from its place in the Library back to The Rock Golf Club. It had been on loan to the Library since 1994 due to having no space in the Country Club until the more recent expansion. It is now hanging above the west side of the banquet hall, and was seen during the IceFest events held at the Golf Club.
The Library also began hosting the first art gallery from Waupun Fine Arts in several years, with paintings from Beaver Dam artist Frank Mittelstadt. The paintings depict a variety of nature scenes with birds, bears, elk, and wolves. The gallery opened on March 1 and will be replaced with another artist in two months. There will be a public reception for the gallery on Thursday, March 14 from 6 to 8PM where the public may hear from the artist and members of the Fine Arts Committee.
