SHUTESBURY — A ceremony to kick off the building of Shutesbury’s new public library, which will replace the 122-year-old M.N. Spear Memorial Library when it opens in fall 2025, is set for early August.

Library trustees and the Library Building Committee are holding a groundbreaking for the $8.98 million, 4,400-square-foot building, Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. at 66 Leverett Road, the future site of the library.

The event was scheduled after the Select Board at its June 25 meeting signed a $6.39 million, year-long contract with Construction Dynamics Inc. of Clinton, the lowest of five bids received for the project.

Designs by Oudens Ello Architecture of Boston show an adults section with a reading nook and a children’s section, both of which have seating and collection space specified in the building program, with significant natural light, and an ability to close off the children’s room with a sliding door when privacy is needed.

There also is a smaller, dedicated teen area near the circulation desk, a staff work room and director’s office. Further along is a browsing room, a lobby and community meeting room, with overflow space in the lobby accommodating more people, which can be accessed separately from the rest of the building.

Oudens Ello has handled a number of net zero energy projects, maximizing roof space for solar panels.

The process of getting to the new library began when Shutesbury, competing with the town of Otis as towns with populations under 2,000, was awarded a $3.95 million Small Library Pilot Project grant in 2022. Following that, $2.44 million in town spending was approved at Town Meeting and a Proposition 2½ debt-exclusion vote.

Signficant fundraising also has been done to ensure that all costs are covered, with total price tag, at about $2.5 million or so over construction costs, covering furnishings, site work and a public water source.

When the building opens about half a mile away from the current library on the Shutesbury green, it will bring to a close a long-running process to replace the M.N. Spear, a 768-square-foot building with no running water. The process included residents taking a ballot vote and narrowly rejecting a similar project in 2012.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.