Politics & Government

Township Moves Ahead with Plan for New Library

A floor plan for the new library would eliminate some volumes, but leave more room for "public service spaces."

Members of township council consented to a blueprint Monday that will sacrifice a percentage of volumes—books, magazines, etc.—in exchange for providing important library services.

According to township manager Scott Carew, library staff said they’d prefer to reduce the size of their collection rather than , which would have limited the public’s access to them.

This way, the library can also continue to provide certain “public service spaces,” said director Joe Galbraith, such as an Internet Technology classroom, a space for teens, tutoring rooms, and meeting rooms.

“If I had all my dreams and desires for a new library, of course I wouldn’t do this,” he said. “If I only have X number of square feet to work with, something’s got to give … This is the most sensible way of going about it given the square footage we’ve got.”

Though the exact number of volumes to be culled from the library’s 110,000-plus collection is yet to be determined, Galbraith said preliminary discussions with the township put the number between 20,000-30,000.

However, Carew said it’s very possible that number could change, and if so, would shrink.

Council directed architect Rick Ragan to move forward with plans for a roughly 25,000 square foot library that includes a cafe area, a reading terrace, expanded computer stations, and two large meeting rooms (among other areas). The estimated cost of construction is less than $10 million (which also includes the township administration side of the building), he said.

Specifics of that plan may be tweaked going forward, Carew explained, but the concept was approved by council unanimously. 

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Carew said the new library, though it is technically smaller than the existing library building—which is nearly 38,000 square feet counting the second floor—provides more public library space than the current building.

Ragan applied a little pressure to council Monday night to come to a consensus on the project, suggesting the risk of continuing to hold off could make the project more expensive.

“Those of us in the construction industry know that the price of materials has begun to creep up, and the cost of borrowing is as low as it’s going to be ever,” he said. “So if I can encourage you to move forward with both the opportunity to construct and the opportunity to bond, we’ll be better off.”

He added, “The time sequence has become now critical. If you would like to see planks in the ground and hopefully steel going up before the end of this year, we need to be able to move now.”

Council will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday at the township offices to renew Ragan Design Group’s contract, which Carew said will carry them through the rest of the project.

Township financial officer Tom Merchel has previously said the township has spent approximately $2.5 million on planning expenses for the project so far, with another $1.75 million likely to be spent before the end.

Carew also addressed questions regarding the necessity of building a new library versus simply renovating the old one. He explained a quote from a few years ago put the cost of renovating the existing building at $4.7 million, whereas the cost of building the new library is around $5 million.

“So for less than half a million dollars more, you’re getting a new building that’s going to be much more energy efficient, much more efficient in general,” said Carew.

Galbraith concurred with Carew’s assessment, stating building a new library is a “no-brainer” once you compare the cost of renovations versus the cost of new.

“It leaks, it’s got a bad roof, a bad HVAC system,” Galbraith said of the existing building. “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”


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