The collaboration began with an idea jotted down on a piece of paper.

What if the school library at one of Lebanon’s two elementary schools could include a public library?

That idea, formed a couple of years ago, has became much more than a “what if.”

On Jan. 26, the two libraries that became one will be celebrated with an open house in the new space at Hanson School on Upper Guinea Road from 6:30-8 p.m.

During the last couple of weeks, Town Librarian Jenn Griffin and Cheryl Merryman, the librarian for Lebanon’s Hanson School and Lebanon Elementary School, have been putting their space in order, getting ready for youngsters to check out books during the day, and for the public to do the same after school hours.

The space includes two former classrooms at Hanson School, with a new addition. The space has been melded and transformed into a library that Lebanon officials say will be named “Martha Sawyer Community Library,” in honor of the local woman who left money in trust for such a project. The space is designed so that patrons may enter in the library through a dedicated entrance, rather than through the school building.

For the municipal side of things, the new space replaces a town library long located at the old town hall on Center Road. Because of the age and construction of the building with minimal insulation, the public library had to be buttoned up for winter and the pipes drained, said Griffin. That meant the library was open only April through October, or less, depending on the weather.

Griffin said the number of patrons had expanded from 100 to 200 in the two years she has been librarian, but the winter closure tended to dampen momentum.

“It was hard. We’d be open and then close for the winter,” said Griffin. “This way it is consistent, we’ll be open year around.”

There will be no fee to patrons, she said.

The project originated as School Administrative District 60 officials a couple of years ago began talking about how the schools could better serve the Lebanon community, said Tom Ledue, principal at Hanson School and Lebanon Elementary School. The school district started a conversation with town officials and put the idea to voters.

Many years ago, Sawyer left money in trust for a library or a high school but with Lebanon part of SAD 60, a high school wasn’t in the offing. Over the years, the principal and interest grew and about $90,000 was realized. That money, combined with a $60,000 bond, made the library addition a reality. Voters approved the plan and ground was broken in August.

One day this week, Griffin, Merryman and other librarians from SAD 60 schools were on site, shelving the 10,000 school volumes and the 5,000 volumes from the public library, arranging seating areas and generally getting ready for the opening day.

There will be computers for public use, so patrons can search job listings or prepare resumes, a couple of overhead projectors, and conference room space for meetings.

Griffin and Merryman will work closely together ”“ they”ll use the same desk, Merryman during the school day and Griffin during the library’s public hours ”“ and the two librarians know they’ll work closely with one another.

Merryman said she’s working on having the library open to schoolchildren sooner than the Jan. 26 open house, because the students have been making do without a library since the beginning of the school year ”“ all the books had been packed away in anticipation of the change.

“We’ve made the best of it,” said Merryman of her library classes.

Griffin said it took many hours to pack and label the 5,000 volumes from the town library, but the actual moving was accomplished in a couple of hours. The books and library furniture were moved to the new space Dec. 30 through a volunteer effort that included a local Cub Scout pack, recreation department folks and community members who packed five pick-up trucks.

“We’re excited about the project and think it’s a great way for the schools

and the town to pool our resources to provide a better service to the students and residents of Lebanon,” said SAD 60 Superintendent Paul Andrade.

Selectman Jason Cole agreed.

“This is an exciting project, working with the schools to consolidate services and save taxpayers money, while offering more library services,” said Cole. “We have worked out security concerns, we have worked out small concerns as they came up and the end result is a beautiful, functioning library.”

“It has come a long way from a thought on a piece of paper,” said Ledue.

— Contact Staff Writer Tammy Wells at 324-4444 or at twells@journaltribune.com.