DeKALB – DeKalb Public Library officials will ask DeKalb city leaders Monday to borrow $7.5 million to help pay for a library expansion that would more than triple the library’s size.

Library Director Dee Coover, board President Clark Neher and architects from Nagel Hartray Architecture – a Chicago-based firm tasked with designing the new library – will tell the council why they think the city should help pay for the $24 million project.

If the council decides to issue bonds, residents would see the library’s property tax rate increase by 8 cents, from 30 cents per $100 in equalized assessed value to 38 cents, said Assistant City Manager Rudy Espiritu.