Woodstock Library trustees took one more step toward a new library by seeking a construction manager agent to oversee the progress and budget of the project.

About 60 people came to Woodstock Town Hall on Monday, May 20 to learn about alternatives to a planned new 12,000-square-foot library designed by Dobbs Ferry Architect Stephen Tilly.

Woodstock Library Trustees approved a $584,000 contract with Dobbs Ferry Architect Stephen Tilly, but not before hearing just over an hour of public comment about the choice to build a new library rather than renovate the existing one.

Woodstock Library Trustees plan to vote at their next meeting, 7 p.m. Thursday, April 18, on a $584,000 contract with Dobbs Ferry architect Stephen Tilly for designs on a new 12,000-square-foot library building amid lingering concerns by some that the board hasn’t been transparent enough and hasn’t given enough consideration to a renovation.

As Woodstock Library trustees begin preliminary talks with design contest winner Stephen Tilly for what would be a newly constructed library, they have sought advice from those with successful projects in other communities.

After nearly three months of public input and the defeat of a referendum that would have dissolved the district, Woodstock Library trustees declared Architect Stephen Tilly’s proposal the winner of the design competition for a new building.

Woodstock Library Trustees have entered a period of listening and reconciliation following the 2-1 defeat of a referendum that, if passed, would have dissolved and terminated the form of governance that has operated the Woodstock Public Library since 1989.

A proposal to dissolve and terminate the Woodstock Public Library District went down in resounding defeat Tuesday, giving trustees and staff a feeling as if a big weight had been lifted from their shoulders.