A Roof Over Our Heads

A view of the roof of the Pottstown Regional Public Library courtesy of Google Earth.

Work has been undertaken on replacing the roof at the Pottstown Regional Public Library.

Built in 1916 as a U.S. Post Office, the building was acquired for the library in 1961, when an extensive renovation was undertaken to convert the post office into a public library.

The Pottstown Regional Public Library serves the

borough and surrounding townships.

That may well have been the last time the building received an entirely new roof.

A release from Susan Davis, the library's executive director, indicates that the board of trustees "recognized that the roof would need to be replaced and pursued funding for this projection 2011 through the Department of Housing and Community Development of Montgomery County."

In June, 2011, the library was awarded a Community Development Block Grant for $59,785 for roof replacement.

The new roofing system will be a rubber roof with two layers of insulation underneath.

Sealed bids were opened in December, 2012, and the lowest bid was $94,210, leaving a $34,425 hole in the project budget.

Fundraising to close that gap has been ongoing.

It is hoped the new roof will allow the library to use space in the building's third floor which is currently unused because of roof leaks.