Library To Assess Building Needs In Coming Months

officials will be assessing whether the building in its current form adequately meets the needs of the community.

The library trustees are expected to sign off on a long-range plan at a special meeting toward the end of September. In light of the results from a recent community survey, patrons appear to be particularly interested in seeing the library stay open on Sundays year-round.

However, the coming months are also likely to see a growing focus on the library building itself. The long-range plan set to be approved in a couple of weeks will include a building assessment, which is a required part of the process by the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners.

From there, the library's process calls for the formation of an in-house building assessment commitee in October, and at some point between November and January, officials will select a library building consultant. At this early stage however, these dates are still just estimates.

Demographic and community input has already been largely gathered during the development of the long-range plan, while the library's director, staff and board of trustees expect to provide their own analysis during the first quarter of 2012.

Around February or March, library officials hope to decide on their mission and overall objectives for improving service. Then, the process calls for the consultant to compile a needs assessment around March, followed by a building plan that analyzes the institution's needs and aims to resolve them.

At their meeting last week, the library trustees made clear that they are currently open to a variety of options, and are not necessarily going to seek a completely new building.

Library Board of Trustees Chair Bob Calamari explained that any plan involving a new library building would require some private fundraising and would also depend on factors like the economy and whether such a project would be seen as viable for the foreseeable future.

"We would have to look long and hard before we embark on that path," said Calamari.

Library Director Nancy Ryan noted that the facility did undergo a major renovation in 1991 that saw the addition of a new HVAC system, a wheelchair ramp and elevator, as well as roof repairs and the conversion of the lower level for stacking purposes.

With these things in mind, another option in the building assessment process is to reconfigure space in the current facility to maximize efficiency. Priorities would be to facilitate more technology and digital activities at the library, while another item on the wish list at this point would be a public meeting room.