Obiter Dictum: Does the Library Need a New Home?
When people say to me “I need / want xxx!” I reply, “I want to be 6’-1” but that is not going to happen either.”
We have all seen the “signs” and read the pleas regarding the old, decrepit, Belmont Library, the building with the front stairs blocked off. Look at the Woburn Library which was built in 1876, the Winchester Library built in 1931, my homes built in in 1929 and 1953 respectively, and Belmont’s Library built in 1965. What is the difference? The first four buildings have seen proper care, maintenance, and system upgrades as needed over the years. French drains, sumps, and grading to deal with groundwater, boiler replacements, air conditioning upgrades, electrical services upgraded, roof work in a timely fashion, windows replaced, front stairs replaced, etc. , etc. Why did this not happen in Belmont? Why now are all systems deemed failed and the building unusable? Why did we block off the stairs in lieu of repairing/ replacing? Why did we recently spend money on installing new granite curbing throughout the parking lot if the plan is to replace the building and redesign the sites parking?
Maybe we should look at what we really need and can afford before just saying “the library needs a new home”. The main function of the library is to loan out printed material and electronic media. Indeed, during the past two years the library reverted to the “Carnegie lending library model”. People ordered books online, librarians picked the books from the stacks, and during restricted hours we all came to a window and picked up our books, CDs, etc. It worked just fine and could easily operate in that manner from the existing facility.
Look at the proposed plan…
Does the library need to provide “an appealing destination for meeting and performances for 200+”? We have meeting rooms in Town Hall and the Annex which are infrequently used. How about using the Homer Building, Beech Street Center, our schools, our Churches, Meeting House, and Synagogue?
Do we need to provide programming? The calendar offers knitting club, board games, coffee hour, the history of Juneteenth, and dumpling making. Not exactly the main function of a library.
Do we need giant “main staircase” to lounge on and read? Something my doctor would certainly not recommend. This is the "adult room" of the library and older adults need seating with backs! This grand staircase was a feature used in many elementary schools thirty years ago...a gathering place (in a common area) for a class to have a discussion with the teacher outside their classroom. No place for this in a library where "silence" is the keyword...not discussions.
Do we need to provide access to computers…95% of home in Belmont have a computer and internet access. Most of us have research and reference capability in our pocket.
Do we need the height and volume to heat and cool or the high clerestories to pose difficult cleaning issues? A feature I always look for is "design for maintainability". Make sure the building may be easily maintained (proper materials) and easy to clean, on a daily basis. How do you periodically clean the faux beamed ceiling and access the light fixtures? How do you "easily" clean the ledges sill areas of the high windows? The entire open plan will be noisy and temperature control more difficult. This is volume for volumes sake...with a high ratio of volume to useable floor space
Do we need an “outdoor porch reading area”? This is New England where days for outdoor seating and reading activities are a small percentage of the year.
Concord Avenue generally runs E-W....the clerestory windows, while allowing for natural light, will also have blinding sunlight coming in all day E to S to W.
Note the bookshelves in the rendering. Due to new design requirements the space between rows of shelves must be 5 feet and height of shelves limited so as to be accessed from a wheelchair. The same number of books will require more than twice the floor space. Indeed, the second floor "stack" area, as I recall, would require five times the existing floor area with no increase in capacity.
How about the following solution to the library’s needs? Since it appears the front stairs cannot be repaired (a statement that in of itself seems ridiculous) let’s get rid of the ramps and stairs! Remove the mound in the front of the building, put on a small addition at the front at ground level providing a new multilevel foyer with a staircase and elevator accessing each floor. Keep the existing library “stacks”. It would save millions. (How much could it cost to hire someone for 25 years to fetch books for those who cannot do it for themselves? Certainly, less than one of the millions saved.) Repurpose the current meeting spaces at the library for library uses. As previously mentioned, there are plenty of other spaces in Town to support the programming Upgrade the HVAC, electrical, and other systems (which should have been done over the years.) Accomplish this in a series of projects over a few years as monies are identified. And while we are at it, let’s put a library return box at the CVS on Trapelo Road which would eliminate a lot of traffic on Concord Avenue which with the High School fully open will become more of a mess. (Subject for another Obiter Dictum).
Instead of “the library needs a new home”, let’s give the 1965 library a new life!