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Date: 10/20/2021
AMHERST – With the Nov. 2 election upcoming, residents will be faced be a divisive question on the ballot regarding the Jones Library.
The question being asked is a request for the city to appropriate $35.3 million for the expansion and renovation of the Jones Library, following a Town Council vote 10-2, with an absentee, in favor of authorizing and borrowing for this project. While that is a jarring number, with the funds already secured by the town, the bill for residents of Amherst is approximately $15.8 million.
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has awarded Amherst a grant of approximately $13.8 million for the project with payments beginning this year. About $5.7 million will be provided through private donations as set forth in an agreement with the Jones Library Board of Trustees, and $1 million was appropriated from the Community Preservation Act funds.
A “yes” vote on the question affirms the council’s vote to fund the Jones Library expansion and renovation project and wish for it to continue. A “no” vote rejects the Council’s vote and for the project to not continue.
Proponents of the expansion and renovation argue that it is the town's fiscal responsibility to take the deal they have arranged. With such a large bill, and taxpayers only due for just under half of it, the pros outweigh the cons in their eyes.
“We think it’s the only fiscally responsible choice because it will take the same amount of money to repair the present building as the town’s portion of the cost of this new project,” said Kent Faerber, chair of the Vote Yes Committee and trustee of the Jones Library for 24 years.
Faerber argued that with certain aspects of the current library structure being close to unrepairable according to Faerber, voting yes is the best option for the Jones Library future especially with the money coming in to help the town with the project.
The actual renovation and expansion would include a rear addition to the current building, a renovation of the old theater inside of the library into a teen area, and the exterior of the original building to be restored as well as most of the interior to be restored including opening spaces not now open to the public. A more accessible entry way for those with wheelchairs or strollers is also part of the outdoor renovation, as the building does not currently comply with handicapped accessibility codes.
On the other side, opponents to the expansion believe it is not worth it for what they must pay, if passed, and what is planned to be built. On the website votenostartoversmart.com the group writes, “A no vote will allow the hiring of an architectural firm to develop an adaptive reuse plan for the library that avoids demolition by incorporating the 1993 addition while planning for space efficiency, improved site lines, accessibility, non-fossil fuel HVAC systems and perhaps a modest expansion.” The belief is that the new library expansion and renovation plan does not meet the needs of Amherst residents.
“It’s also too expensive because they decided to demolish the 1993 edition, which is 40 percent of the building. It’s very wasteful,” said Terry Johnson, chair of Vote NO – Start Over Smart. “The up to the minute sustainability international guidelines are to always adapt something, change it, but do not demolish or destroy it because of the high rate in carbon materials.”
With a concern for the environmental factors of a project such as this, opponents of the expansion are not sure if removing the 1993 edition within the renovation and expansion is worth it. That is where the name “Start Over Smart” comes from for the committee. The wish is to stop this project on Nov. 2, and develop a more efficient plan, in their eyes.
This has also been a concern of the vote “yes” side of the issue as even with the removal of the 1993 edition, the proposal for the expansion and renovation promises that the improved library will not only be much less energy intensive but also fossil fuel free and will be a net zero ready building when completed. The vote “yes” committee also helped form a Sustainability Subcommittee made of volunteers who are in the field of environmental rights to help walk them through the process and ensuring a green future for the library.
Proponents of the expansion argue that keeping the building as is, even with a different approach to just renovation, is not only worse environmentally but also will not help the library expand space indoors for their different projects. A “yes” vote would also mean the Jones Library would become the first Massachusetts Library to become net zero following expansion and renovation. Lifetime emissions of the building would also decrease by 40 percent in comparison to keeping the building as is, according to the group.
“We realized the earth is crumbling at our feet, we’ve got to do something about it,” Sharry said. “The trustees created a sustainability subcommittee and its four experts in the area of sustainability. We were able to interview folks and over the course of a year the subcommittee, made of experts in the field, was able to give recommendations which would ultimately lead to a net-zero ready building.”
The reason the building will be net-zero ready and not net-zero when completed comes down to the structure of the classic Amherst building, as there isn’t enough room for something like enough solar panels installed on the roof of the library. To cover for the small problem, the option of purchasing renewable energy through either the town or a local supplier will lead to the eventual net-zero building, according to Sharry.
As for the inside of the building, according to Sharry and the proposed plans, a lot of those issues will be resolved through an expansion and renovation such as the HVAC systems, and the improved site lines as the opening of the inside spaces of the library will provide a more open area with easy visibility across the inside of the building that had not been there before for staff. There is also a skylight within the 1993 addition that has had constant leakage from essentially the time it was installed, according to the library. The 1993 addition would be removed completely as part of the proposal so more space could be cleared out and expanded on.
“The town has spent in the past 30 year, hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and fix that sucker (the skylight). It is not fixable. No matter what, people need to understand it has to go away and that is part of the repair project. The same amount of money can be spent for a 21st century library that is net-zero ready.” Sharry said.
The plan for renovation and expansion started early in the last decade as members of the board of trustees, both former and current members, began reaching out to the community and state on how to best address making much needed improvements to the public space. The main improvements that would come with a “Yes” vote was directly from the people who work at the library and have seen firsthand what is required, as the Jones Library is still very busy in terms of programs and cardholders, even amid a pandemic.
One number that has caught opponents off guard to the proposal is that the library only currently has 19,000 cardholders but a renovated and expanded library would be able to support 51,000 users. This number was on the application to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, but when looking at how they calculated the number based on not only users but community members who go to the library for the various programs and resources, the number accounts for that on top of current cardholders.
“We will get a larger building that can accommodate needs that can’t be met now, like we don’t have enough space for our ESL program. It’s not generally known what goes on in public libraries and we’re trying to make clear that this is not just a place to borrow books. We get 227,000 people going through the door of that building every year,” Faerber said.
The library also has access to computers with internet for many people within the community who unfortunately do not have access to the tool from home. There is a lot more going on here than just a place to check books in and out for the community.
That is why a big goal for the expansion and renovation of the new library is creating more space for not only library cardholders and creating more reading space, but for all members of the community who participate in the various programs the library offers.
“That 1928 building is quite a remarkable building. It was designed to be a community center for Amherst. The founders of the Jones Library conceived of the library as the center of the Amherst community,” Faerber said. “We think the present configuration doesn’t have the room or the configuration to allow it to be the kind of community gathering place around books and learning that was originally conceived.”
An expansion would allow more space for a central community gathering spot in the library, an expanded children’s room that would be more accessibly for families and give children a whole area designated for their different activities. With so many programs and events at the Jones Library aimed at children, a new designated room would provide a nice foundational space for children at the library. The original theater would become a more open space for teens as opposed to its current status of a large room full of rows of books.
“If you take them from children, and give them a space as teens, it’s going to lead them into adulthood where they’ll continue to read, be educated, and they’re going to make decisions about how their cities and towns will be future leaders running our world. Education is so important,” Sharry said on the importance of teen support in the library.
Another complaint from the Start Over Smart side is that due to library funding for staff, a larger building may only cause that issue to be worse.
“Everyone loves the library, and everyone knows the Jones has been neglected for 30 years because the library has a tight budget. They’re saying that they’re not going to need more staff for a bigger building, well that just doesn’t make any sense,” Johnson said.
Sharry responded to the claim saying that while it is true money is tight when it comes to staffing, that is an issue that the town would need to resolve by allocating money for more library staff. With two other branches of the library open part-time, there will always be full-time and part-time staff for all branches. The money toward the expansion mostly comes through taxes and grants, therefor having no impact on how the Jones pays their employees.
A “yes” vote also allows for a climate-controlled space to preserve some of the special collection pieces the library currently holds.
“We have some original Emily Dickinson material, Robert Frost materials. people come from all over and it’s too large to be held in the climate control space we have, so parts of the collection are scattered around the building and the new project will provide space for it to all be secured in one climate-controlled space,” Faerber said.
Voters will ultimately decide the future of the Jones Library, and both sides of the issue stress they care deeply about the building and what is best for it in the community.
Based on the prices and what it will add to Amherst through expansion, it is obvious to those from the Vote Yes Committee are certain this is the way to go.
“For the same amount of money, the town will get a library that’ll serve its needs for decades instead of just repairing the building which will have to be attended again in another 10 years and will continue to be inadequate to meet the current needs of the town,” Faerber said.
Faerber added, “Of all the places in Western Massachusetts that should have a distinguished library, Amherst is the place.”
While sharing that particular position, Start Over Smart is coming from the side of feeling like this project is not in the best interest of the town.
“It’s really wonderful for the town to have a joyous experience with a revitalized library, but the trustees just got off on the wrong foot at the get-go,” said Johnson.