WINTHROP — The campaign to expand the Bailey Public Library in downtown Winthrop has raised more than $695,000, surpassing the half-way mark in fundraising.

According to Mary Jane Auns, chair of the library’s Board of Trustees, the funds secured to date are entirely from private donations. “We have received many generous grants, gifts from individuals, local businesses and have raised money through fundraising events. This is truly a community effort.”

The Bailey Public Library is a historic building that has served Winthrop and surrounding towns for more 96 years, but was originally designed for a much smaller community. The new expanded library will include space for programming, a community meeting room, technology, separate teen area and quiet work space. Expansion of the library was included as a top priority in the 2010 update of the Winthrop Comprehensive Plan.

Built in 1916 through the generosity of Winthrop industrialist Charles M. Bailey, the rock-face and chiseled granite library was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.