ADAMS TWP — Last Thursday’s multi-municipality public forum regarding the Mars Area Public Library has garnered substantial public comment.

The meeting, which was hosted by Adams Township, discussed how the library could grow in the ways necessary by potentially being linked to the Mars Discovery Center.

Russell Ford, Adams Township supervisor chairman, announced at Monday night’s supervisor meeting a link posted on the township website on Friday that documents further public interest.

“Eighty-nine comments,” Ford said, “from people that sent emails on their thoughts (and) concerns.”

Ford said among the responses was one from people residing in Texas who discussed what they liked about their local library.

Ford said he and other township leaders went through the comments Monday.

“It was very, very promising to see that the public has an interest,” Ford said. “That’s kind of what we talked about.”

At Thursday’s meeting, Ford and representatives from Mars, Valencia and Middlesex Township expressed their interest in keeping the public involved in any plans regarding the library’s future development.

The idea of incorporating library expansion into the Mars Discovery Center would require the support of all four communities.

The borough of Mars secured a $1 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant to go toward its Mars Discovery Center in 2019.

If a joint library-discovery center venture was pursued, Adams Township would put $1 million toward the library expansion in combination with Mars’ RACP grant. The township already worked $1 million into its 2021 budget with the collaboration in mind.

There are no formal plans regarding library expansion at this time. Any plans should be centered on the library’s existing foundation in Mars, according to Ford.

“The number one goal in this project is to keep this library in the town of Mars,” Ford said.

The public is invited to review the comments submitted by the public on the Adams Township website, www.adamstwp.org. The link to submit a comment is also available under the “Upcoming Meetings and Agendas” tab.