The Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL) will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Westside Library next week. Work on the project began in 2022, when the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation acquired land for the new facility near the corner of 20th Avenue SW and Wiley Blvd SW.
The Westside Library will replace the current Ladd Library, which is housed in a rented space. The new 40,000 sq ft facility will be approximately 40 percent larger than the Ladd, with increased space for the children’s programming area, including creative play zones. Plans call for 10 study rooms and both a large conference room and a conference center, all of which will be available to the public.
CRPL has also been working with the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department on plans for a new park next to the library.
“The land will include a new road, which will be named Sandberg Lane in honor of the late Nadine E. Sandberg, whose estate gift of nearly $2 million to the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation in 2020 was used to purchase the property,” CRPL said in a news release.
The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, “between Edgewood Rd SW and 20th Avenue SW, behind the Aldi grocery store.”
“We’re so excited to reach this milestone,” CRPL Director Dara Schmidt said in a statement. “The Westside Library will be a community hub for one of the fastest growing parts of Cedar Rapids, and we can’t wait to see this investment in our city’s future come to fruition.”
The Westside Library is expected to open its door to the public in the last fall of 2026. The project has received financial support from the City of Cedar Rapids and Linn County, both of which used funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act for their contributions. The city allocated $6 million for the library, and Linn County Board of Supervisors is providing $4 million. Additional support has come through the Inspiring Big Dreams fundraising campaign, which the CRPL Foundation launched in January.
The fundraiser is still ongoing. Anyone interested making a donation to support the Westside Library project can find information on how to do so on the library site.
