Above: Town Meeting approved restoring and preserving the Southborough Library’s historic façade and nearly half of survey respondents said the library doesn’t need more space. So why is the library pursuing funding for a project? The Library’s website and promoted “chats” with the Director seek to answer that question. (photo left from Facebook)
At Town Meeting on March 23rd, Article 12 will ask voters to agree to commit up to $150K for planning and design work for a project for a new or renovated/expanded library building.*
In advance of that ask, library staff are trying to answer questions about the request.
Information on the request has been posted to a dedicated page on the Library’s website. (And I’m told that more materials will be added.)
In addition, Library Director Ryan Donovan has scheduled two upcoming times for residents to “chat” with him about the project. This Saturday, March 16th (from 1:00 – 1:30 pm), and the following Tuesday, March 19th (8:00 – 8:30 pm). Both will take place in the Judy Williams Reading Room on the upper level:
All are invited. . . for a one-on-one discussion regarding the Massachusetts Public Library Construction program.
The public can also email him questions at rdonovan@cwmars.org.
As for the info page. . .
It explains that the Library is pursuing grant funding for a potential project, but would first need voters to approve financial support for the Town’s share of the planning phase.
The page pitches why a project is needed:
The library must grow to meet emerging user and community needs. . .
The need for a new library to service the town’s current and future needs has been widely recognized by the residents and the town leadership. These needs are especially apparent with respect to accessibility, adequate spaces for seating, dedicated youth program areas, technology upgrades, and importantly additional space for book collections, media and other/new printed collections. The library must annually weed each area of the collection in order to fit new books in. New book shelves cannot be added without ceding a significant portion of the public space that is used for library programs.
As part of the process for pursuing the grant, the Library was required to solicit public feedback. To try to get as much feedback as possible, they hosted three public forums (two in-person and one over zoom) and issued a survey.
Results and highlights from the survey are posted to the info page. (Scroll down for some of the notable results.)
Some readers may be wondering why the project includes potentially moving to a new building. As noted on the info page, “Built in 1911, the library has been a historical icon of the Town of Southborough for over a century.” And a few years ago, Town Meeting voters approved restoring the historic façade coupled with a Preservation Restriction. That was with the understanding that a restriction on the deed mandates the property only be used for a library.
Investigating a potential new site in addition to an expansion is part of the process required to pursue a grant through the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP). But given the above facts, and its prime location towards in the center of town, Town officials have expressed that a renovation & expansion is the much more likely outcome.
As I previously noted, the grant process also required gathering public feedback related to a potential project.
Only 328 people participated in the survey. I presume active library users were more likely to have taken the time to complete it, which could sway the results. But from those who did participate, there appeared to be an appetite for an expansion that outweighed the desire for a new facility.
43% said they would ” not be in favor of ever moving the library” even if the current site can’t be renovated or expanded.
Participants were able to choose more than one answer under that question, and the remaining responses appear to be from people choosing more than one answer: 26% would support a new site, 8% would support moving it into a shared Community Center space, and 32% said they would need more information.
Only about 12% of the 325 respondents said they were dissatisfied with the current building. But later in the survey, 48% responded “The Southborough does not have adequate space and needs to be expanded.”
315 participants provided answers under the question, “If you agree that the library needs additional space, what would you like to see more of at the library if the library is expanded?”
23% stated that they didn’t believe the library needs more space. Below are the answers in order of popularity by those who did indicate improvements they would like to see:
47% – More space for library programs
35% – More space for books.
31% – More space for studying.
30% – This decision should ultimately be up to the library administration.
29% – More space for library staff, including break room, work area, storage, etc.
22% – A front lobby / welcome area
Later, participants said they would support adding spaces to the library. (The figures below are my estimates based on analyzing the bar chart):
44% – Larger Children’s Room, including a space for juvenile programs
41% – Study spaces
41% – Additional electric outlets to plug in devices
39% – Larger Teen Room, including a space for young adult programs
33% – A cafe, with coffee and snacks
27% – Local History Room
25% – I would support all of these options
22% – EV charging stations in the parking lot
19% – Separate Idea Lab space
19% – A full kitchen for use in cooking programs
Only 10% answered that they wouldn’t support adding anything.
In another question, that could impact the Library’s space needs but also impacts how the library uses its operating budget, 72% of respondents said they would like to see the library continue to expand its “More Than Books” lending collection that currently includes “telescopes, gardening kits, ukuleles, and more”.
To read more details about the project and the survey results, click here.
The library is just one of the Town facilities that officials have been studying the space needs for. As I’ve previously covered, the Town has been studying the need for a potential community center and options to house not only the library’s services, but the Senior Center, recreation programs, and Town offices.
In February, the Community Center Exploration Committee reported that it would like to make use of Finn School if it becomes available in the future. That could include some space for the library but seemed unlikely to be chosen for a full relocation.
The Library Trustees don’t want to put their project on hold, because the grant cycles for library funding have been few and far between. Therefore, they are pursuing the 2024 application window.
You can read more about the community center discussions here.
For my overview of ATM 2024 and other items on the Warrant, click here.
*[Editor’s Note: While I’m trying to be neutral in covering this ATM Article, I need to disclose that I am the President of The Friends of the Southborough Library.]
