Plans for a new space for the Joseph City Library have been cooking now for about a decade: Since 2014, the library has been collecting input from community members and library patrons about what they’d like to see from an updated location.

It’s been clear for years that the library has outgrown its cramped location in Joseph City Hall, and the project got a boost in November 2021, when city officials informed members of the library board about plans to move the library into the Blackburn Building at 100 N. East St.

It also was clear that the building would require substantial renovation to be functional as a 21st century library and community hub.

Members of the library board got to work, lining up studies, conducting surveys, holding public meetings, working on plans for the building and the site. The city struck a deal in July 2023 with the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District to help with fundraising efforts.

Somewhere along the way, though, there was a bit of a missed connection (perhaps understandably, considering how much of that work occurred during the COVID pandemic), and that became obvious during an October 2023 City Council meeting, when library proponents updated councilors on their plans.

It was an impressive presentation. But councilors were surprised by the proposed price tag for the project: close to $1 million, although roughly $450,000 of that had been raised already, largely from city donations of the building and work on the site.

Estimates are that another $400,000 or so is needed to get the building ready for occupancy and roughly $125,000 is needed for additional site enhancements such as landscaping. In theory, those site enhancements could be delayed if necessary if fundraising efforts hit a bump.

Alarmed, the council scheduled a follow-up session for later in October with library proponents, engineers and architects. That meeting, which included some pointed questions from councilors, had at least one beneficial result: The council eventually formed a committee to keep in closer touch with library proponents to help unclog the channels of communication.

However, some councilors still have concerns about the project’s price tag and attendant fundraising work, and those concerns surfaced again at the council’s Feb. 1 meeting. Is there a Plan B in place, councilors wondered, in the event funding doesn’t come through?

That’s always a legitimate question to keep in mind. But, in this case, it’s too early to do serious work on Plan B until library proponents have a better idea of what funding is available through grants and similar sources.

The project is scheduled to submit a major grant application this week to a foundation that already has shown considerable interest in the library. If that grant comes through, that will answer many of the fundraising questions surrounding the project — and it likely will open doors to pursue additional funding. Foundations, as any fundraiser will tell you, are fond of libraries.

Besides, doing substantial work now on cost-cutting alternatives would come with a price tag of its own. There’s no reason now to incur that additional cost.

Library proponents have done good work in getting the project to this point. The council’s library committee will continue to meet with project proponents, so councilors will be kept in the loop going forward; that should minimize surprises. To our eyes, the project seems eminently doable.

Maybe there will be a time when it’s necessary to draw up Plan B, but we’re not there yet — and, thanks to the hard work invested in this project to date, it may never come.