“The people that attended said they did not want the library to move from downtown Missoula,” Bray said.

The current building has 43,000 square feet of space, and the library had wanted to have 133,000 square feet, she said. The Missoula Mercantile would allow 113,000 square feet, less than the original target but still more than 2 1/2 times its current space.

“We don’t have room in this building to be able to do what we need to do for the public,” Bray said.

Clients need to be able to sit down in the library to use the collection on site instead of carrying big loads of materials out the door, she said. She said the library also needs to be able to accommodate future growth and offer the public and nonprofits more than one large meeting room.

“The library board is working very diligently to come up with the right solution, and you know, they would like any feedback the public has to give them,” Bray said.

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Interest in the property is high, said Dennison, of Zillastate Realty. While he gave library representatives a tour of the property and believes “the library would be a great fit,” he said he has not seen a proposal so cannot comment on any potential deal.