CAPE ELIZABETH – The Library Building Committee in Cape Elizabeth has recommended opportunities for naming recognitions in various locations throughout the Thomas Memorial Library as part of a $500,000 capital campaign.

In November 2013, the Town Council approved the library committee’s recommendation to move ahead with renovation plans for the library.

According to Frank Governali, an at-large member of the committee, “a key part” of the recommendation is to raise $500,000 in private donations as part of a fundraiser to purchase furniture fixtures and equipment to outfit the building.

“It was recommended that we allow for naming opportunities for donor recognition in and around the library,” Governali said at the council meeting Monday.

According to Governali, a subcommittee of the Library Building Committee, the Thomas Memorial Library Foundation, was formed and tasked with researching and recommending ways to raise the $500,000.

The Library Building Committee approved the foundation’s recommendations and forwarded it to the Town Council Monday. In a unanimous vote, the council approved the committee’s proposal to provide naming opportunities for donors to the long-sought renovation and expansion project at the library.

“This is very exciting,” said council Chairwoman Jessica Sullivan.

The committee is seeking site plan approval this summer to give residents a better idea of what they will be voting on in the November referendum, which asks voters to approve borrowing $4 million for the library renovation project. A public hearing on the proposed site plan for the project was held at the town hall on Tuesday evening, after the Current’s deadline.

The committee has worked with library trustees, architects, Capital Campaign Committee members, library staff, and community members who have fundraising experience, Governali said, “to come up with a proposal to identify locations within the library and around the library that are suitable for naming recognition.”

The idea is to install plaques recognizing donations that have been made for purchasing furniture and equipment for the library, according to Governali. He said the committee has prepared a list of about 23 locations throughout the library for naming rights opportunities, and that each location requires a specific minimum donation amount.

According to the committee’s site plan, renovations would increase the size of the library from about 14,500 square feet to 16,000 square feet and would make it energy efficient.

Governali said if Cape Elizabeth residents approve the November referendum, the proposal is to recognize taxpayers with a plaque in the library entrance. Other donors would have the opportunity to be recognized in other locations of the library depending on the amount they donate, he said.

The Thomas Memorial Library Foundation has determined four factors for choosing locations for naming opportunities, Governali said, including the visibility and prominence of the location, size of the location, the importance of the location to the donor, and what it costs to outfit a particular location, such as the children’s reading area, with furniture or equipment.

“Broad public support for the planned renovation is important not only to the success of the referendum and the Capital Campaign, but also to the future of the Thomas Memorial Library,” according to the Library Building Committee’s written proposal. “The Capital Campaign is an opportunity to engage the entire community in preparing the Thomas Memorial Library for the next 100 years.”

In other news, after a public hearing Monday, where there was no public comment, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council approved a zoning ordinance amendment to increase the seating capacity for restaurants in the town’s Business A district from 80 to 100.

The ordinance amendment takes effect 30 days from Monday’s meeting. Restaurants that would like to increase their seating capacity will need approval from the Planning Board after the 30 days.