Comments on: Pet Project OR Progressive Leadership?

By: Thea Wilshire

Thea Wilshire — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:49:10 +0000

Jim, thank you for your thoughtful analysis of this project. As one of the council members who voted for the purchase of these properties, I would love to add a little information that was shared with us. When the Old Dominion Library burned down and the community rallied to find another library location, the current library’s building was — even then — seen to be too small for the needs of the city. However, this location was a stop-gap measure and was believed to be sturdy enough to be able to support a second story expansion in the future. The second story never came and library science has progressed to tell us that a 2-story footprint of that size would require more employees to supervise and is less user-friendly than a larger, open designed one story building. Other city councils over the past 20+ years have tried repeatedly to purchase the properties on either side of our current library to allow for expansion, but the prices were not workable. Some of us proposed moving the library out of the downtown district to allow for greater acreage, but recent studies on revitalization of downtown districts list the importance of having the public library as an anchor in the downtown area. Locally, this idea was reaffirmed for us through the recent Globe library feasibility study commissioned by the Friends of the Library. When the economic downturn of the last year created a unique opportunity for property acquisition at a reasonable price, we felt it would be poor stewardship to not move forward on these purchases. In the next few years, I look foward to seeing what plans and designs are proposed to meld a new state-of-the-art library with the character and richness of our historic downtown.

By: Lynne Luster

Lynne Luster — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:47:17 +0000

Although I did enjoy reading your article, it raised several questions. I have been to our library on two occasions and there were only 3 people in the library. Is there any information about exactly how many of our towns folks use the library? I think that information would be important when making a major financial decisioin in these current economic times.

By: Roberta Meehan

Roberta Meehan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:41:24 +0000

I also support the expansion and/or demolition of the current and unattractive library building as well as keeping the library in the downtown district. However, it is important to keep in mind the value of historic buildings to the character of the downtown region. For example, while the new theater construction while have maintained some of the historic characteristics, the facade is still a an exposed concrete-type brick. The building on the corner has had a rich history, and although it is currently in a state of disrepair, it has potential to be something great. All I’m saying is the if the library building project encompassing and destroys other historic buildings, the design needs to adhere strictly to the style of the historic district. If not we will end up with a mix-match downtown that has no unity or fluidity.

By: LCGross

LCGross — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:05:36 +0000

I fully support the Council’s actions in acquiring these properties and working to keep the library downtown. An expanded library will be a true asset to the community and logistically offers the best solution to maintaining the services of the current library while expanding the footprint. It is a smart move. Kudos to Mayor and Council.