HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Public Library has been adopted by the Harlingen Junior League.
The League has determined the library renovation project, specifically renovating the Children’s Library and creating a Teen Library at the facility at 410 76 Drive, will be the primary focus of its fundraising efforts for the next year to two years.
“We had a planning meeting last week and they shared with us their upcoming fundraisers for the next year, and the funds that they raise from those fundraisers will be allocated to the library,” said library board member Traci Gonzalez. “It’s really exciting.”
The Junior League of Harlingen selected the library project as being emblematic of the organization’s mission to give back to the community and to mark its 70th anniversary.
“Our priority is to carve out a space for the Teen Room and the secondary priority is to kind of uplift the children’s area by adding furniture and new design,” said Amy Muniz, the League’s project manager for the library.
Muniz said the Harlingen League hopes to raise more than $200,000 for the library project. The funds are in addition to $90,000 the city has budgeted to replace outdated tables, chairs and sofas.
“The number that we gave them was $290,000,” Muniz said, although she said some of that funding total may come from grants the League intends to seek for the project.
Muniz, who is an interior designer, said she and other members with similar professional experience would be helping with the renovation of the library, and will meet with the library’s Teen Advisory Board to get some direct input on what the teen space should look like.
Muniz said the Harlingen League had considered two projects for its anniversary effort — the library and the city’s redevelopment of Lon C. Hill Park into a destination park.
The library won out.
“If the park project is $11 million and there are a lot of contributors, just a tiny piece of it would be our $200,000 to $235,000,” Muniz said, and members thought the impact would be more dramatic if they voted to help the library.
Muniz said the Harlingen League plans a gala next November as a cap to the library fundraising drive.
She also said Junior League members are excited because there’s a lot to work with at the library.
“We went in there, just a walk-through, and the space is so underutilized,” Muniz said. “What it all boils down to is, finding some space in that library is not hard — it’s just a matter of rearranging it for them.”
