The latest phase of construction for the Whitesburg Public Library officially began Thursday, when volunteers started working on the interior and preparing the library for its grand opening later this year.

Last summer, work began on the facility late, and contractors with Latimer & Hughes Construction Co. of Carrollton recently completed the first two phases of the 2,700-square-foot project. They finished the construction of the exterior of the building and completed the installation of the drywall, insulation, electrical work and plumbing. The price tag for Phase 1 and Phase 2 was $159,000.

Thursday was the first day that volunteers were allowed inside to work on the library. Members of the Friends of the Whitesburg Public Library, which started the project four years ago, are trying to use as much volunteer labor as possible to help with various aspects of the interior, including painting, landscaping and installation of doors, electrical fixtures, plumbing fixtures, countertops and blinds.

Harvey Toub, a retired engineer who is helping with the project, checks out other volunteers’ work and makes sure that what they do is good enough to meet the required standards.

“This is truly a community effort,” said Bill Bouris, a Friends of the Library member.

The Whitesburg library will be a part of the West Georgia Regional Library and is being built under the guidance of the Rural Library Project. While the library is expected to have nearly 10,000 books, it will only have half that number when it opens.

“A library is the kind of revitalization that Whitesburg needed,” Friends of the Library board member Margery Bouris said. “What better way to impact this community than with a library? People can come here and find jobs, find out medical information, get entertainment and be enriched. ... I think it’s a basic service that people throughout the county deserve.”

The budget for the library’s construction is about $235,000, and the city of Whitesburg gave $100,000 from its special purpose local option sales tax fund. The state also wrote a check for $20,000 to be used for buying desks and six computers with high-speed Internet.

“People in the community are really excited about this library because it is such a long way to the Carrollton library,” Friends of the Library member Jackie Pate said. ”A lot of people in town are excited about the computers, which will be open to the public. If you live in Carrollton, you take for granted the services that just aren’t here in Whitesburg.”

Various businesses and individuals in Carroll County donated their time and services to help to make the library possible, including Carroll EMC, Southwire, Georgia Power, the Community Foundation of West Georgia, Golden K Club, the Carroll County Board of Education, Porter Paints and West Georgia Tile & Installations. Emory University also is donating metal book shelves.

What was not donated, members of the Friends of the Whitesburg Public Library raised themselves. However, the group still is in need of about $35,000 before the library can open later this year.

“As soon as we can get the rest of the money together and all of the work done, then we’re going to be open as soon as possible,” Margery Bouris said.