Library Trustees Slam Plan B as They Develop It

Director Sharon Sharry began recording the June 17 online meeting of the Jones Library Buildings & Facilities Committee as Chair Farah Ameen surveyed the list of participants.

“Hmmm! Gosh! No audience,” she observed.  At which she broke into a broad grin and gave two thumbs up, saying, “Alright!  Shall we begin?”

The Board of Library Trustees and its fundraising arm, the Friends of the Jones Library, Inc., have gained a reputation for preferring to operate in the shadows and dismissing public opinion that runs counter to their fixation on pushing forward the 10-year-old $46.1 million Jones Library renovation-expansion plan.

On May 20, Board President Austin Sarat had directed the Buildings & Facilities Committee, consisting of Chair Ameen, Director Sharry, Trustee Tamson Ely and Facilities Supervisor George Hicks-Richards, to meet to develop an alternative repair plan in case a rebid of the full expansion project comes in over budget for a second time this fall.

“The Buildings & Facilities Committee will be working diligently on a contingency plan that we would want to finalize lest in September when we rebid we are in the same position that we are now [$6.5 million over budget].”

The Committee’s diligence and good faith effort to offer an urgent repair plan that is most economical for the town might be questioned after members leveled repeated criticisms of a high-level plan being recommended to Town Manager Paul Bockelman by Director Sharry.

The Plan B proposal lists a schedule of work, funding for which will be requested of the town’s Joint Capital Planning Committee over the next eight fiscal years.  In FY25 Sharry’s plan is to

• Hire an architect for feasibility study for HVAC replacement
• Replace fire alert system/sprinklers. Potentially replace IT network wiring at the same time.
• Children’s Room asbestos abatement

The work would initially be paid for out of a $1.8 million commitment made by the library trustees to fund repairs should the full expansion prove unaffordable.

After the library allotment of $1.8 million is spent, funding will fall to the Town of Amherst, Sharry suggested.

The Joint Capital Planning Committee is comprised of town councilors, school committee members, and the Jones Library trustees. Each year they meet to fairly divide up available capital budget resources among the three areas of government according to the most urgent capital needs.

Trustee Ely asked if it made sense to spread the work out over multiple years if asbestos abatement is required each time the walls are opened up.

Sharry replied, “It would be lovely if we could do all the abatement at once, but the whole point of not doing it all at once is because town can’t afford to do it all at once, because it eventually would start kicking in ADA.”  Kuhn Riddle Architects (KRA) has advised that full American Disability Act code compliance is required for construction projects that exceed 30% of the building’s assessed value, or $6.9 million for the Jones Library.  KRA notes that historic properties like the Jones Library may apply for ADA code variances and that it is not required by law for staff areas to be fully accessible.

Sharry and Hicks-Richards plan to put together an RFP for a feasibility study, but do not recommend spending any money until it is certain that the expansion project will not move forward.

Ameen asked how long it would take to hire an architect after an RFP were circulated.

“Don’t know,” admitted Sharry.

The committee continued to hold up the KRA report as irrefutable evidence that repairs will cost upwards of $20 million.  The cost estimate has never been validated by an independent analysis representing the interest of the town which will be paying for most of it.

Hicks-Richards and Ameen disparaged the repair idea, saying that the cost estimate does not include design fees or library moving expenses.  “And all that would be on the town except for the $1.8 million,” said Ameen, neglecting to consider that the Library has access to a robust private Capital Campaign that reports having raised $9.6 million toward renovation-expansion.

Ameen further complained that the repair plan would not introduce gender-neutral restrooms, teen space or basement safety, and that repairs might require multiple closures of the library.  Committee members responded that the ability to keep the library open would depend on the nature and duration of the work.

“Could we put new carpeting in that dismal corner of the basement where the teens hang out?” asked Ameen.

“No, that space probably needs to be walled off, turned into an office or something,” replied Sharry.

The trustees have reported behavior issues from teens who congregate in the remote lower level where staff is not around to supervise.

Ameen continued her harangue against the repair plan that she is charged with developing.  “So we would not be doing anything for our teens, improving the lives of the children and the children’s room, besides the abatement.”

“And we’d have to continue with programming through all of this,” Ameen lamented. “If they are working on the roof and you’re in the library and there’s banging going on, you just need to have a headache all day long, and you finally get used to it, right?”

By the end of the meeting three members of the public had showed up and Ameen called for public comment. 

Arlie Gould commented that there are members of the community who are capable of grant writing, and she expects that people would step up if the repair option became the path forward.

“I wish you would feel comfortable and willing to be open to the other perspectives and not feel they’re so dismal,” said Gould. “I’m glad you’re working on Plan B, but maybe a little bit more enthusiasm for it, because it is a real possibility.”

Library Annual Attendance Falls
Jones library renovation-expansion proponents have been called out for less than honest claims ranging from the extent to which townspeople support the project to the sustainability of the design to the amount of funds the Capital Campaign will remit to the Town to the ultimate cost of the project to taxpayers to the actual cost of urgent repairs should the renovation-expansion not go forward.

Another example of library hyperbole is the declared number of yearly visitors that the Jones Library must support.

Building Project literature and Capital Campaign advocacy articles from as recently as February 2024 have justified the $46.1 million expansion by claiming that the library “is used by 230,000 people each year.”

However, Library Services statistics recently published by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) report that in 2023, the Jones Library had 142,675 visitors.  This official count reveals that the Library Capital Campaign’s figure is inflated by more than 60%.  It further reflects a downward trend in Jones Library annual attendance since 2006 when attendance was reported to be 400,000.