You need only to glance at the outside of the Whipple Free Library in New Boston to imagine the inside. The building is tiny from the inside out and bursting at the seams. Boxes are stacked on top of bookshelves, tables must be pushed aside in order to accommodate reading groups and many books are in storage due to the lack of shelf space.

If residents vote to appropriate money for a new library on Tuesday, March 10, all that could change.

If Warrant Article 16 passes with a 60 percent vote, New Boston will get a new library through a $499,000 bond, a price that the Whipple Free Library’s assistant director Pat Fickett calls “a bargain.”

The remainder of the funding will come from the New Library Campaign, which has raised $857,000; and from the Capital Reserve, which is holding $104,000 in previously approved funds.

The tax impact of a new library would be 10 cents per $1,000 assessed property value, or $20 on a $200,000 home.

The need for more space becomes apparent the minute you step inside the library. The shelves are crowded to the point where Fickett said, “If for some reason all the books came back at once we’d be in trouble!”

She siad that in order to add a book to the shelves, another one must be removed and placed in storage, or on one of the temporary carts and displays around the room.

The lack of bookshelves is just the tip of the iceberg. “This building wasn’t built for computers,” said Sarah Chapman, Whipple Free Library director. “When we opened, everything was different, and it was fine.”

Looking around the library today, it’s easy to see how 21stcentury technology has made the crowded space seem even smaller. A lone computer sits at the top of the stairs for patron use, and other residents must check out laptops and find somewhere to sit among the few open chairs scattered around the library.

While the shelves overflow with books, DVDs and books on tape are stacked on top of each other wherever there is room. There’s no space for this new technology, and no privacy for people who come into the library to use the free internet services.

“I’ve helped people with their resumes while standing at the circulation desk,” said Fickett. “It’s not fair to them or to us.”

In its cramped quarters, the library offers more than just physical objects. From the summer reading program to the knitting program to other reading groups and discussions, the space is often full.

“Sometimes we have 20 people in this place and it gets … intimate,” said Chapman, gesturing to a small circle of chairs. Despite the lack of space, the library is an important place in the community.

“It’s a wonderful gathering point for families,” said Mary Locke, who works at the library. The selectmen and the Finance Committee have already signaled their approval for the bond plan.

Town administrator Burton Reynolds echoed the sentiments of the library staff when he said, “They are very short on space in the current library for community programming. They have to switch things around for every program, and even then, there’s not enough room.

“I think people can feel confident that the public expense portion of this is included in the improvement plan and will have very little impact on taxes,” said Reynolds when asked about the amount of the bond. “If you look carefully at how everything has been constructed, taken into context with all other types of spending, other types of spending have been reduced so we can do this project without a tax spike.”

He believes the current proposal combats the criticisms of previous plans, and thinks the town is ready for this improvement.

With more space, the library could offer a greater amount of community programming, more programs for children, a better selection of computers, and more books, including all those which are currently sitting in storage. All it needs is a new building.

“This library has such fantastic energy,” said Fickett. “It’s such a small building with so much going on.”

Voting takes place Tuesday, March 10, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at New Boston Central School.