ERVING — Town librarians say there are not enough reading nooks in the library, not enough space for community gatherings and not enough shelves for books. So, to the tune of more than $1 million, the town is considering building a new public library.
Today, an architect will present plans for the library that would be constructed on Northfield Road near the senior community center. The town is inviting residents to learn about the proposal and ask questions during an informational public hearing at the Erving Senior/Community Center at 6:30 p.m.
The proposed building would be outfitted with craft rooms, space for students to study and additional desk space for staff members to process books, said Barbara Friedman, the library director.
“There is this vision of building this absolutely wonderful synergy of gathering spaces,” said Friedman. “I am really thrilled that so many people have stuck with this project for four years.”
The building would be energy efficient, running on solar and propane. There would be a quiet reading space outside by a brook that runs through the back of the property on Northfield Road.
The current building, Friedman said, has many issues. The roof leaks, there are rodents, and library staff have been forced to get rid of hundreds of books every year because of a lack of space. She said the library has even resorted to storing books in the bathroom, and the aisles are not wheelchair accessible.
The proposed library would be about three times the size of the current library at about 7,600 square feet, allowing for extra teaching and learning space, so residents can fully appreciate the roughly 1,000 new items that get added to the collection every year.
Residents can also download resources using the Central/Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing system.
“These are the services that we want to feature, we want to teach people how to use these things, but we have no room,” said Friedman. “We need more room to teach. We share resources and we don’t have the room to teach people how to do these things.”
While there is much support for the project, there are also concerns that the cost of the new library would push other town projects to the backburner.
“There aren’t people coming into Town Hall saying my library needs aren’t being met,” said Selectman Arthur Johnson. He suggests adding a room to the library as opposed to building a new library.
“I’m sorry I don’t see the absolute need for a new library. We are a town of 1,800 people, we don’t need a $2 million library.” He said that the town should deal with issues like senior housing before considering the library proposal.
Phil O’Brien, an architect at the firm of Johnson/Roberts Associates, will present the preliminary schematic design for the proposed library on Thursday.
Dan Pallotta, the town’s project manager for the library project and the Library Feasibility Committee will also be in attendance.
A grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners could fund up to 50 percent of the project. The total cost of the project has not been firmed up, but it will be over $1 million, said Friedman.
If authorized by the annual town meeting on May 2, the library will send a grant application to Boston by January of next year. The application will then be reviewed by a team of architects and librarians. Decisions on the grant awards will be announced in July of 2017.
The Erving library is competiting with about 20 other library across the state and the grant only comes up every eight to 10 years.
“This is Erving’s chance. We are really set up for this,” said Friedman. “I just think this is such a great deal for a small town like Erving.”
You can reach Lisa Spear
at lspear@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 280