While the police department is searching for a new chief, the Coquille Public Library is looking for a much bigger building than its current space in the Coquille Community Building.

Library Director Anne Conner said the library has been in its current location since 1942 and an update is much overdue. The library occupies about 3,000 square feet of space, far less than what is needed.

“Our architect said right now, we need 10,000 square feet,” Conner said. “We have to discard perfectly good books because we don’t have space on the shelves.”

Books that haven’t been checked out in the last three years are removed from the shelves because of lack of space, she said.

She said to adequately serve the community, the library needs about four times the space. One possibility the city is considering is converting the current McKay’s store in Coquille, if a new store is built on the former Georgia-Pacific mill site and the building becomes available. The building, which is owned by Les Schwab Tire Center, would cost about $3 million to purchase and renovate. Building a new facility is estimated to cost almost $3.7 million, Conner said.

The library is forming a site committee to search for more suitable locations and the Friends of the Coquille Public Library has started a fundingraising campaign for the project. So far the group has raised about $25,000.

The possibility of an expansion of the current building was explored, but it still would not meet space and parking needs, Conner said.

“That would not be a solution for us,” she said.