Delmont native Bill Lendl can remember his father, Milt, placing the first book on the first shelf of the former borough library, on Delmont Street at the time.

“My father loved reading, and my family does as well,” Lendl said.

That would explain why the Lendls donated about a quarter of the cost — to the tune of $250,000 — of the new Delmont Public Library, which broke ground on Saturday on the property just behind the borough building.

“I can assure you that there’s no place on the entire planet better to raise a family than Delmont, Pennsylvania,” said Lendl, who has lived all over the U.S. and in Europe.

Library board member David Weber praised not just Lendl but also the residents of Delmont, who responded to the Lendl family’s fundraising match challenge.

“Our local hometown boys and families really put us over the top, and that’s when we went to the (R.K.) Mellon Foundation and said, ‘This is the real deal. We’re not kidding here,’” Weber said at the groundbreaking. “This will be built with private money, foundation money, and didn’t cost taxpayers a thing. We didn’t ask for a tax hike, and we’re not going to ask for one.”

Murrysville-based Kacin Companies will build the new library, at a price tag of roughly $1 million. The new library is proposed to be 4,150 square feet with several “green” features including solar paneling, geothermal heating and cooling and a cistern that will collect storm water from the roof to use for irrigation, landscaping, and watering the library’s butterfly garden.

Lendl said he feels blessed to be able to give back to his hometown.

“This is a generational thing we’re doing here,” he said. “There are many generations who will benefit from what’s going to be done at this library.”

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