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Date: 2/9/2022
OTIS – Town officials expect to hear this month whether a state agency will contribute to the construction of a new library in Otis.
The town submitted a building plan Dec. 1 to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ Small Library Pilot Project, after Town Meeting voted unanimously Nov. 17 to support the project. The state grant program promised to pay 70 to 75 percent of the cost of a new library building in a town with a population under 2,000. Otis and Shutesbury, a rural town northeast of Amherst, are the two finalists for the grant.
Officials from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners are expected to meet in person with Otis library and town leaders Feb. 10.
If Otis’ application is successful, the Town Meeting will have to vote again to accept the grant and appropriate the local share of the construction costs. Library Director Kathleen Bort said since the state-designated architect hasn’t yet designed the new building, she doesn’t know how much it will cost.
The architect will work based on a list of needs and wants provided by Otis. Bort said she expected that the final design would cover between 5,000 and 6,000 square feet, a sizable increase from the 3,079 square feet of the current library at 48 N. Main Road.
That current building, built in 1948, no longer serves the town’s needs, Bort said. It has no drinkable water service and isn’t handicap-accessible. It can’t accommodate modern technology and doesn’t have enough room to fit activities and open browsing at the same time.
“We don’t have any private meeting spaces here,” she said. “We don’t have any large-group area here. Our children’s area is far too small and far too limited. If we’re running a children’s program or a special community program, we cannot run it during the library’s open hours, because there is not enough space. Whatever we have for children we have to have outside the library hours.”
Bort said in a statement posted on the library’s website that the journey to this point began April 7, 2021, when the library trustees became aware of the pilot grant program. Trustees visited newly built libraries in Erving and Monterey to see what features they could incorporate in a new Otis facility. More than 40 people attended in person, and several more participated by Zoom, in a public forum on library construction in Otis on Aug. 25, 2021. Since that time, Bort said, the library has collected more than 100 additional comments from library patrons via questionnaires, emails and a “wish tree” at the library.
The director said she has been “absolutely astounded with the level of support we have received from the townspeople, and the amount of positive feedback we have received.”
She said in her statement that suggestions for the new library included “a larger and better children’s space, a large group space for library events as well as for public meetings, private quiet study spaces and a makerspace for creation and learning for all ages. In addition to adding space, a new library design could address many of our current needs such as handicap accessibility, potable water, HVAC and air purification, outdoor spaces, and exhibits. With more space, we could build our collection and add an area for young adults with gaming and study capabilities.”
Library officials then created a library building plan that describes current resources, needs and wants, including the size of the current collection and how it is expected to grow in the next 20 years. Officials identified the Erbe site, a parcel of land next to Town Hall, as the preferred location for a new library building. The Erbe land is owned by the town and includes a rental property that the town was planning to demolish anyway.
Bort said the library currently employs two part-time librarians year-round, one summer librarian and a substitute to fill in during vacations and illness. She said the new building would not require additional staffing, though she would like to see library hours and programming grow in the new space, which could mean additional personnel costs in the future.
“This has been a challenging endeavor, but the positive feedback and support for the library has made it a rewarding experience,” said Bort. “We are thankful to have had this opportunity, no matter the outcome.”