With the work nearing completion on the building exterior, officials at the Walker Memorial Library are now turning to what needs to be done on the inside – and they will need the public’s help, both in dollars and manpower, to get it done.

City officials recently reported the extensive repairs and restoration work to the outside of the building is progressing on schedule, and the City Council voted Monday night to confirm appropriating $26,000 in bond money to take the next step: cleaning up mold damage on the ground floor of the building, which was caused by decades of water damage.

After that, the city plans to start on the old oil-fired heating and air-handling system, which is badly in need of replacing. City Administrator Jerre Bryant said an $85,000 energy efficiency grant would pay for about 50 percent of the cost of replacing the system, which officials hope to be able to do by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, there is still work to be done on the interior, according to Library Director Karen Valley. Parts of the original 1894 structure, she said, have been closed off ever since the library absorbed the collection from the Warren Memorial Library, which closed in 2009. The closed area includes two large reading rooms located just inside the building’s front doors.

“We want to open it to the public,” she said.

One reading room on the main floor, she said, needs repair to the woodwork and stained glass. There is no mold, Valley said, but the area is stained from years of water damage. The other room, known as the local history room, contains some of the city’s oldest documents and photographs.

The documents are so rare, old and potentially valuable, Valley said, that security is an issue. Right now, she said, the entire room is under lock and key, with visits only allowed by appointment. She said she hopes to reorganize the collection in such a way that the room itself can be opened, with the collections remaining secure.

Finally, Valley said, she wants to see some of the furnishings in the older part of the building replaced, so that the staff can relocate back to the ground floor, and the reading rooms can reopen to the public again.

“The practical utilization of the areas, that’s what we’re going to raise money for,” she said.

The exact financial goal is not known, but, Valley said, she will be making a formal presentation of those needs within the next few weeks. For now, however, the Friends of the Walker Memorial Library has recently achieved official nonprofit status, and is seeking volunteers for a fundraising committee.

Anyone wishing to join the committee can speak to Valley or Marian Peterson, the library’s assistant director, by inquiring at the library.