RUMFORD – People have a chance to see the library, discuss a possible replacement, and suggest ideas for using the historical building at two open house/tours during the next two Mondays.

The informational sessions and discussions are important to the future of the Rumford Public Library, a Carnegie library built more than a century ago, Library Growth Committee Chairwoman Kathy Sutton said.

“The committee has thought of many ideas for using the library, but we want the public to make suggestions,” she said Monday.

The tours will be a chance for the committee to explain why a new building is needed and to gather input.

An analysis conducted in 1999 led to the formation of the Library Growth Committee in 2002. In that analysis, the committee decided that a new library was needed to meet Maine State Public Library standards and Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

State public library standards call for 16,000 square feet of space. The library has 6,000 square feet.

While the committee, which has grown to about 12 members, believes a new library is crucial to the economic development of the town, others oppose constructing a new building.

Marie Boudreau, a library trustee, wants to preserve the building as a library because of its central location to downtown and its businesses. She has advocated making infrastructure changes and repairs that could meet some of the ADA requirements.

Another opponent is Tom Fallon, who agrees that the current facility should be brought up to code.

He questions the need for additional meeting rooms, and believes the declining population in the area does not justify construction of a new building.

“We have to ask what the library of the future will look like. Libraries could be in our living rooms, textbooks on laptops. Don’t enlarge it yet, wait for the library of the future, when technology takes over,” he said, adding that although it should be brought up to code, nothing more “radical” should be done.

The committee and its architects have designed a new, one-story library that could be built on the former site of Stephens High School on Penobscot Street. Those drawings, as well as designs for an addition to the existing library, will be on display during the two Monday meetings.

The committee has tossed around ideas for use of the current library, such as an art center/gallery and meeting space. More ideas are needed.

If a new library is built, a large percentage of the money needed will likely be raised through a capital campaign. When that might happen is not clear, Sutton said.