The Hutto Public Library officials made a public plea at Thursday’s City Council meeting for more books and a new building.

Housed at a 4,500-square-foot former fire station building on West Street, the library has 24,277 items, including 24,193 books. Library manager Antoinette Ramos said the collection's average date is 2003 and only 17 percent of the books are nonfiction.

“We need more money to buy books, and we need more nonfiction,” Ramos said. “[Our patrons] need to read the real stuff that is going on in our world.”

Ramos, a longtime high school librarian, said the city’s library is up to Texas Public Library standards, while the use of the library has dramatically increased as the city's population surges.

In 2012, there were 10,228 visits to the library. Last year there were 26,310 visitors, and Ramos said early numbers this year is on track to set a new record—perhaps in excess of 40,000 visitors. The lack of space for programs and more books doesn’t allow the library “to meet the needs of service,” Ramos said. “We love what we do and we want to better serve the community.”

Ramos said the library has applied for more than a dozen grants to help fund upgrades.

Recently, the hours of the library expanded to six days a week, with full hours on Monday.

“There are three of us full-time and one part-time,” Ramos said. “We want it to be open more for the community. To extend hours to Sunday without interfering with church time would be great.”

Mayor Doug Gaul said he understood the need for a new library, but urged Ramos and her staff to review any short-term options, including any partnership options with Hutto ISD.

Hours at the library are Mon., Wed. and Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tues. and Thurs. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Sat. 10 a.m.-2p.m. The library is closed Sunday.