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Date: 3/30/2022
AMHERST – The $32.6 million Jones Library building project is full steam ahead after a community chat was hosted by Town Manager Paul Bockelman, Library Director Sharon Sharry and Jones Library Trustee President Austin Sarat on March 25.
“Our hope is that we will have this project completed and a ribbon-cutting in the spring of 2025,” said Sarat, who is also serving as the chair of the Building Committee. “Throughout this process, we will have opportunities to talk with members of the community to solicit input.”
Sarat said the first stage is reviewing the schematics from the architects, followed by a design and development stage. There is a final stage of finalizing construction documents and the bidding phase until the renovation and expansion are ready for public use. A full timeline breakdown, project updates and a donation and submission box are available at www.joneslibrary.org/352/Jones-Building-Project.
The library’s expansion will increase square footage from 47,000 feet to 63,000 feet. That space will reopen parts of the original library that have since been blocked from the public due to minimal space like the theater. The basement will be completely remodeled, the children’s area will be expanded and a brand-new teens room will also be added.
“When we started this project, my daughter was very young and I was very excited that she was going to have a teen room,” Sharry said. “Unfortunately, this has taken a little longer and she will have aged out, but this next generation of teenagers are going to have a space that they can call their own and they’ll be able to help design it.”
The library takes pride in the building’s predicted net-zero status following renovations. In addition to purchasing renewable energy, the Building Committee is being mindful of how to add so much and still make the building environmentally friendly. Sarat said the building will be better insulated, have solar panels and utilize more windows.
“Right now, we have an HVAC system in our building which is failing, so the building will be more adequately cooled,” he said. “We’re not using steel beams in construction, we’re using cross-laminated timber, so construction is designed to minimize the carbon output during the process. It’s more than a hope. This library will be one of, if not, the greenest buildings in Amherst.”
Bockelman assured listeners that any prior legal obstacles have been resolved with the expiration of the appeals period. He did confirm that inflation would impact some of the original planning.
“We are noticing that inflation is ticking up, interest rates are ticking up very slightly as well. Those are all cost adds to where we are with the project,” he said. “That’s for every project. It’s just a fact of life and something that we manage through. We won’t be able to do as much as we wanted to otherwise, but those costs have to be incorporated into the existing project.”
Even with the possible slashing of some previously planned additions, the library and its staff are preparing for significant changes that will make the Jones Library even more of a crucial and helpful resource for Amherst residents, according to Sarat.
“What we hope will happen when people walk into the expanded library is they will understand its centrality in the cultural and social life of our town,” he said. “They’ll see it as the most democratic space in town. A space for the old and the young, rich and the disadvantaged, for English language learners and native speakers.”