WILTON – Soon anyone can visit the Wilton Free Public Library, where a more accessible entrance will be built.

A $100,000 federal Community Development Block Grant has been reserved for the town to go toward a nearly $400,000 renovation project planned by library supporters. They hope to build a better entry.

For years, getting into the historic building has been a bit of a trek. Visitors must traverse a footbridge, climb up a hill, make their way up a steep set of stars, and then wrest open huge, heavy doors. Many, especially elderly readers, have given up entirely, and rely on kind librarians or friends to pick their books out for them.

“I hadn’t thought about the library as a castle until somebody said it,” Town Manager Peter Nielsen said, “with the moat and the steps – this is just a way to make that facility available to so many more people.”

The plan calls for a new, handicapped-accessible entrance, an elevator, and Americans With Disabilities Act-approved bathrooms. Plans will be run by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission before work begins, Nielsen said. The project has been in the works for quite some time, and the library has raised nearly $300,000 of its own money to pay for the renovations.

“We’re very excited about this project,” Library Director David Olson said. “And our library patrons are very happy that we’re doing this.”

After drawing up bid information and picking a contractor, work should begin soon, Olson said, because the plan is to have the new entrance open in November. “It is very fast, and of course things can happen, but that is our plan,” Olson said.