RENSSELAERVILLE — The Rensselaerville Library is about to get a little cooler. 

The library is receiving $9,734 from the State Education Department and the State Library, to be spent on air-conditioning in its annex, which the library’s director, Heidemarie Carle, said is the second phase of part of a larger effort to air-condition the entire library.

“The first phase was completed in 2020 when we used the same grant funding source to upgrade the existing HVAC [heating, ventilation, air conditioning] system in the Reading Room part of the library, adding the AC component,” Carle said. “We will use the new grant funds to install ductless mini-split units in the Annex part of the building. The Annex houses our Main Circulation Area, Computer Lab, Children’s Reading and Activity Rooms, and the several collections of books and electronic resources.”

Carle said that climate control will help preserve the library’s collection, and also provide a way for locals to hide away from high temperatures and humidity in the warmer months.

“If called upon, the library’s public space can be used as a cooling center in a heat emergency,” Carle said, “an asset in a community that once relied on the cooler temperatures of mountain summer days and where few houses had (or have) air conditioning.”