At what she billed as her final appearance before Princeton Council on Monday evening, December 7, Princeton Public Library’s outgoing director Leslie Burger described the renovation project planned for the library’s second floor and told Council it is being paid for almost entirely by private funds.

The $3 million project designed to reimagine and reconfigure the middle floor is being financed 94 percent by private gifts and pledges raised between last June and September, with the remaining six percent coming from previously approved capital funding from the town, Ms. Burger said before introducing the project’s architect, Andrew Berman. Mr. Berman, whose firm is based in New York City, has done work for the New York Public Library and other libraries.

Technology has brought major change to the way people use libraries today. “The shift from analog to digital means that libraries have to change, and our library in particular has to change,” said Ms. Burger, who departs January 15 after 16 years. The Princeton institution reopened after a major renovation in 2004 with 8,000 reference volumes, but increased use of digital technology has reduced that number of volumes to 150, she said. That makes for a lot more floor space.

The library engaged Mr. Berman to do a feasibility study. His plan for the second floor calls for a quiet reading room, collaboration/meeting rooms, a news publication area that can convert to event space, a copy center, discovery center, and technology seminar area paired with a “computer commons.”

“The library is a wonderfully utilized facility,” Mr. Berman said during his presentation. But his plan will create “a very high quality space for people to use the library better and in a more personal manner,” he said, with “a whole range of size spaces and types of spaces.” Books will still be the primary feature, placed turned outward on lit racks. “It is an effort to weave patrons, books and technology into one space,” he said.

The construction document process is underway, and the project is planned to go out for bid in late January with work hoped to begin in April. The renovation should take between six and eight months. The library will remain open during the project with occasional scheduled closings because of drilling into the concrete floor and other disruptions.

While some of the collection will be moved offsite during the project, patrons will be able to request items not displayed and staff members will be able to retrieve them, Ms. Burger said. The most popular items will be kept at the site.

Construction workers will park off-site instead of using the Spring Street Garage that adjoins the building. There will be weekly updates about the project on the library’s website.

Council members Bernie Miller and Lance Liverman thanked Ms. Burger, who is credited with the vision behind the library’s rebuilding in 2004 and its transformation into what is often called “the community’s living room,” attracting more than 800,000 visitors a year. For her part, Ms. Burger said she feels fortunate that she is able to “bookend” her experience in Princeton with the upcoming renovation project.