Our Master plan, Sustainable Greenfield, states that within 10 years our town will have a “library that has adequate parking, accessibility, and community gathering spaces.” It also notes that this goal derives from an overarching “commitment to preserving the small-town heritage of Greenfield while embracing changes that will allow sustainable renewal of the Town as the economic and cultural hub of the region.”
In 2014, the year after our Master Plan was adopted, the City Council created the Sustainable Greenfield Implementation Committee (SGIC), to ensure that commitments made in the master plan come to fruition.
SGIC believes that now is the time to make good on our promise to build a new library — for financial, technical and environmental reasons.
Why a new building?
Today, libraries are “Community Hubs” and as such they are larger and provide many programs and services beyond lending books. Public libraries help build healthy communities.
Additionally, 23 years ago Greenfield applied for a grant from the state to renovate the existing building, and it was rejected on the grounds that it was too expensive to renovate. They suggested we come back with a proposal to build new. The Library Building Committee worked for seven years on a new proposal, and was successful in securing $9.4 million from the state to help with construction costs.
Cost of building new vs. making the old building safe and accessible for all: As noted in a My Turn by John Andrews, union carpenter, and member of the Planning and Construction Committee, we have professional estimates for building new vs renovating. He makes the point that with the state grant in hand and money raised by the Library Capital Campaign, building new will cost Greenfield taxpayers slightly less than renovating — $8 million for a new building vs $8.6 million for renovating our beloved library.
Our taxes and new services: Paul Jablon, in an Oct 13 My Turn, explained that voting no for a new library will not lower our taxes. As noted above, bringing the existing building up to current standards will be slightly more expensive than building new, and a new building will be able to better serve the thousands of people that use our library. The new library will be fully accessible, and be a ‘community hub’ delivering new and better services especially to our children, teens and seniors.
Technical advances reduce fossil fuel use and climate change emissions:
Twenty-three years ago, the technology did not exist to heat and cool a building without fossil fuels which emit climate change emissions. Today we can do that! With lots of insulation, solar panels that generate electricity, and state-of-the-art electric heating and cooling equipment that is now on the market, we can build a new library with net- zero-energy consumption.
These technical advances will take us one step closer to Mayor Forgey’s 2009 commitment to reduce the money that leaves our community when we purchase oil and gas and electricity to zero, by 2050. (FYI – in 2008 $67 million left our community to pay for oil, gas, and electricity.) Our master plan confirms this commitment to cut spending on fossil fuels and emit fewer climate change emissions.
Most recently, last year, City Council passed a resolution to work toward a “100% Renewable Energy and a Fossil-Fuel-Free Future.”
Greenfield can proudly say we are leading the way! With support from Mayor Martin and Carole Collins, our Energy and Sustainability director, to a fossil-fuel-free future, Greenfield now owns a zero-net-energy community center, an extremely efficient high school and new DPW office building, as well as updated city-owned buildings, lights, cars and more. Today, our municipal operations use 26 percent less energy than in 2008. And, we all can use zero-carbon electricity through Greenfield Light and Power!
SGIC urges everyone to vote YES for a new library on Nov. 5.
When you vote YES, you can be assured that future generations will thank you for your vision and commitment to Greenfield. In a few years the library will be completed, and we can all enjoy it, and watch while it contributes to revitalizing our downtown. We will also have the satisfaction of knowing that our new building is not contributing to climate change. Additionally, we can feel confident that our beautiful historic building that is presently our library will be maintained by a new owner, and return to the tax rolls.
Please vote YES for a new library on Nov. 5.
Nancy Hazard, for the Sustainable Greenfield Implementation Committee (SGIC). For more information on our Master Plan, Sustainable Greenfield, or to contact SGIC go to the city web site, and look for the SGIC committee. https://greenfield-ma.gov/g/31/Sustainable-Greenfield-Implementation-Committee-SGIC