WESTBOROUGH – The Advisory Finance Committee has recommended the defeat of a Town Meeting article to fund the renovation of the Westborough Public Library.
The committee voted 6-2 on Oct. 6 with Beth Blumberg, Melanie Board, Andrew Bradley, Thomas Dolan Jr., Rod Shaffert and Michael Barretti recommending defeat of the article. Walter Leslie and Gene McMahon voted against the defeat.
“I love libraries, and I’m against this particular article because I think we don’t know what a library of the future is going to be,” said Blumberg.
She noted that libraries appeared to be in transition from books to electronics to meeting spaces.
“And this is a very expensive building. I don’t know if we’re going to get what we want fo 50 years,” said Blumberg.
The current estimated costs will be $36,698,556; with a state grant of $9,043,090 bringing the costs down to $27,655,466.
The proposed project calls for demolition of the 1980 addition and a small portion of the rear of the 1908 building. A new three-story addition will be added, starting a few feet lower than the current addition, so that floors in both buildings will match. Highlights include a larger Teen Room, the addition of study rooms, a Children’s Department on the top floor, and major infrastructure improvements. The historic character of the building will be preserved and woven into the addition, since the library is part of the West Main Street Historic District.
Should Town Meeting turn down the project, the state grant would be gone.
There is also a proposal for a “major repair” project of $18.8 million. However, it would not include the state grant.
Other committee members voiced concerns about the size of the lot and what the crews may find once the renovation begins that could lead to further cost increases.
Shaffert said the price tag has “ballooned.”
“My general feeling is the library is too big and too costly,” he said.
Leslie, who is a member of the Library Building Committee, voiced his support for the article to get a new building that he said will be flexible for 50 years versus spending $18.8 million to repair the building.
“One, I think libraries are super important to having a democracy. I think you need a vibrant library. It’s where everybody can get information. I think it serves the community over a wide range of ages,” Leslie said.
Library director reacts to vote
Westborough Public Library Director Maureen Amyot said they were “understandably” disappointed that the Advisory Finance Committee voted not to support the project.
“Their reasons were all topics we addressed in our presentations to them, but they didn’t seem to understand the extent to which the library is a vital and necessary service for many Westborough residents,” Amyot said.
She continued, “Ultimately though, as with any project that is brought forward at Town Meeting, the vote that counts is the one that is cast by the voters. We hope that those who depend on library services and those who consider their public library to be a vital resource in a thriving community will attend Town Meeting and vote.”
Amyot said if Town Meeting votes to defeat the project, the building committee and Library Trustees will regroup and figure out a plan moving forward. While she may not be sure the plan would be, she said it would include “an expensive repair project that yields no additional program space or service improvements for residents.”
The $9.4 million awarded to Westborough would be awarded to the next community on the waiting list, and Amyot said there is no future construction grant round planned.
“There are repairs that we have postponed in anticipation of this project, and we’ve even returned funds to the Town for projects that would be covered by this grant,” Amyot said.
Westborough Town Meeting convenes Oct. 17.
Laura Hayes contributed to this report.
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