SHUTESBURY — A decadeslong goal came one step closer to fruition with the recent groundbreaking ceremony for a new 4,400-square-foot library at 66 Leverett Road.

“Some people say it takes a village. I say it takes a plan, and it’s taken 28 years of planning to get us to this day,” U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said during Friday’s ceremony. “For the past 11 years, every annual Town Meeting has seen the community set money aside, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to this vision.”

Part of the funding for construction has come from a $3.95 million Small Library Pilot Project grant provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. An approval of $2.44 million in town spending during annual Town Meeting, plus $570,000 in money raised by the Friends of the M.N. Spear Memorial Library, also contributed to the $8.98 million total project cost, when furnishings, site work and a public water source are included.

In June, the town signed a yearlong contract for $6.39 million with Construction Dynamics Inc.

Library Building Committee Chair Elaine Puleo thanked the company during her opening remarks and stated construction will begin this week.

“I’m told trees are going to come down, more trailers will come up, the fence will come up and we’re getting started,” Puleo said as cheers erupted from the crowd.

Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners Chair Vicky Biancolo spoke on behalf of the commissioners, thanking the state and federal officials for their continued support and involvement in this project.

“We may be fierce on The Hill, but we are joined on The Hill by librarians and by people who understand how important this all is, and now we’re at a moment, as Congressman McGovern said, that is a very important moment,” Biancolo said.

State Rep. Aaron Saunders, who represents the 7th Hampden District, spoke to the importance of libraries in communities.

“Our libraries are only as useful as the learning and the opportunity that exists within them,” Saunders said. “I know for myself, I know certainly for Jo [Comerford] and for Congressman McGovern, that you have our unwavering support to make sure that this library is going to be a place that is open and welcoming to everyone.”

McGovern spoke to the makeup of the future library, saying “it’s more than just a building.”

“It will be a learning space where residents of all ages can access educational, cultural and enriching materials,” McGovern said.

Plans for the project, designed by Oudens Ello Architecture of Boston, show a single-story building with a peaked roof, with an adjacent driveway and parking. It would replace the M.N. Spear Memorial Library, a 768-square-foot building with no running water that opened in the town center in 1902. The new building will have adult and children’s rooms, space for teens, a public meeting room, a staff work room and a director’s office.

“I’m looking forward to this library being a larger space that actually has a bathroom and running water, and a place where the community can come together,” resident Ann Graham said.

Graham added she is appreciative of the commitment this library holds to future generations.

“Children who are born generations from now, will enjoy this library and use the knowledge and skills they get here to make our country and to make our world a better place,” McGovern said. “This library is a gift to them. It is a gift to a future we will not see, with boundless hope and optimism in the future of this community and of this country.”

Following the ceremony, Comerford, D-Northampton, spoke to her excitement over the project.

“It was really moving to me that the [Small Library Pilot Project] was launched,” Comerford said. “This has been a program I have advocated for because our towns need right-size programs. A town of tooth fairy size doesn’t have the budget to build a mammoth library, but it still needs and deserves the library.”

The new library is expected to be completed and open to the public in the fall of 2025.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.