DeKALB – Library director Dee Coover is looking for a philanthropist or two to be the top donors for the library’s expansion.

Library leaders learned late last month that they are eligible for an $8.5 million Illinois Public Library Construction Grant so long as they can raise the rest of the money for the project by June 1. Coover said she still is determining how much money the library will have to raise and how grand expansion plans discussed months ago can be implemented in phases.

But philanthropy will play a role in any expansion, just as it played a major role in the current Haish Memorial Library Building, which was dedicated at 309 Oak St. in 1931, Coover said.