MARION ? The dilapidated old train station in this central Kansas community has been rebuilt, refurbished and reopened as the public library.

Capped by a dedication ceremony Sunday night, the conversion project drew on the efforts of the local preservation committee, the fund-raising ability of the town librarian and the hard work of many of Marion’s 2,100 residents.

“It was a lot of small amounts of money and a lot of people working,” city administrator Dennis Nichols said.

Until recently, the 90-year-old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe depot had seemed destined for demolition. Abandoned long before the railroad ceased operation in the early 1990s, the building had bad floors, cracked walls and no windows.

A group called the Save the Depot Committee deemed the building worthy of rescue, however, and approached the library board about using it.

“We took one look at the shape the depot was in and said, ‘No way,”‘ librarian Janet Marlar said.

Still, the library itself had pressing needs.

Founded 100 years ago, the library had long outgrown the building it had occupied since 1938. Patrons could barely make their way through the crowded aisles, technology access was limited, and there was no space to update video, audio, computers and technology.

The depot offered double the space, and a consulting architect pronounced it structurally sound. The library board decided to go for it.

A $726,000 state grant covered 80 percent of the cost, leaving the small community to raise $152,000 for the work.

“We had soup suppers, T-shirt sales, cookbooks, engraved bricks, Christmas ornaments, Mexican meals and donations. Anything that came along,” Marlar said.

Construction began in November 2001 and included restoring windows, woodwork and whatever could be kept. New floors, walls, carpet, furniture and a parking lot completed the project.

Inside, three more computers were installed, and an old waiting room was converted into a reading area.

“It’s a new building, but it still has the old look,” Marlar said.

The collection was moved from the old library in two stages. On one day, 250 library patrons of all ages lined up along the seven blocks between the two buildings and transferred 1,000 in an hour, bucket-brigade style. The rest of the books were boxed and moved by a crew of 30 men with pickup trucks and trailers.

“I thought when we automated that was quite a feat, but this has been enjoyable, exciting,” Marlar said of the move.