CLAYTON — Hocutt-Ellington Memorial Library will ask the Town Council to include renovation dollars in its next budget.

The town has already fixed some building problems, including a leaky roof and a broken heating and cooling unit, said library director Joy Garretson. “We had a big leak in our ceiling, and one of our HVAC systems died,” she said during a recent library board meeting. “Gallons and gallons of water went through the roof, and it seeped through into the rooms.”

Those problems are now behind the library. What it needs now is more space for its growing collection of books and resources.

Garretson said she had approached Town Manager J.D. Solomon with the idea of razing the library building and replacing it with something roomier. But wary of the cost, Solomon suggested an alternative: tearing out some interior walls to give the library more room.

“They are looking at ... significantly opening it up so we have some relief to our operations ... until we can look at a significant redevelopment of our property,” Garretson said.

The Town Council will consider funding for that plan as it prepares its 2021-22 budget, which goes into effect July 1. If the council says yes, the renovations could take place in the next 18 months, Garretson said.

“It’s still tentative, and a lot of it depends on what council approves looking forward at next year’s budget,” Garretson said.

Some library board members wished they could have a more immediate answer to the building-update question.

“Everything is still so up in the air,” board chair Laurie Lee said. “It’s just a big question mark at this point.”

Board member Belle Allen noted that Clayton has a number of new people in town administration, including Solomon, who became Clayton’s permanent manager earlier this year. “We’re in a whole new ballgame,” she said. “There’s been so many changes at the top, it will be a while before things settle down, I believe.”

Garretson said she has been talking with Clayton’s new deputy town manager, Dolores Gill, who worked in Johnston County’s public schools before taking her current role. “I’m excited to have her as a sounding board because I think she has a lot of good experience,” Garretson said.

“We won’t get this huge, awesome building we want immediately,” she added, “but we can get some relief.”