At the January 25th meeting of the Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) the topic of a third library branch was brought into the discussed. Currently HEPL has two library branches. One is located in the downtown area of Fishers and the other is located on Cumberland Road just north of SR 32 in Noblesville. Both branches are currently in the final stages of renovation. The addition of a third branch would bring library services to the eastern sides of Fishers and Noblesville.
HEPL already owns a piece of land at 15100 Olio Road in Noblesville. This location is just north of Hamilton Town Center and East of the new Deer Creek Elementary School. You can see the location in the following picture. According to property records, this is a 10-acre parcel of land.
This location is about equal distance from the two existing branches. While the area has number of fields and open areas, the area is seeing growth as housing developments and business expand eastward.
The thoughts around the library branch are at the very early stages. At this time the library is just starting to pull together plans for the process. This will include working with the community to determine what is needed and wanted. This planning will also include determining any special focuses for the branch. Currently the Fishers branch has a focus around the Ignite studio, which is a maker space. The Noblesville branch has a focus around the Indiana Room and Indiana history. It is expected that the new branch would have a unique special focus as well. Community and local input will be used to help determine what that focus is.
The big question many have asked is when will the new branch open? The project is barely out of the idea stage, so there are no details. The library is in the early stage of finding an organization to help with the planning and organization of getting community input. If such a company were to be found in the next few months, then groundbreaking could happen as early as some time in 2025 with construction taking time after that. Again, however, it is too early to know. What is known is that at this time, the topic of a third branch is now being mentioned in the library board meetings. For those on the eastern side of the district, this is great news.
