DeKALB – From the staff desk in the boiler room to the strict time limits on the 12 computers, Dee Coover said she has squeezed the most out of every square inch of the DeKalb Public Library.

Coover, the library’s executive director, hopes to have a few more thousand square feet to work. She learned this week that the library qualifies for $8.5 million in state grants for expansion costs if her staff is able to produce a sufficient local fundraising plan by June 1.

Moments after listening to a voice mail inquiring about the fundraising efforts, Coover said she was confident the library board and staff would not let the opportunity slip away. The library, which hasn’t expanded in 40 years, was denied the same state grant this summer.