Letter: National Catastrophe Makes Jones Expansion Too Risky
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The following letter was sent to the Amherst Town Council and Amherst Town Manager on April 6, 2024.
I have not spoken up much about the Jones Library project. While I feel it is too ambitious for our fragile little town and will undermine other urgent priorities, I appreciate that it is a difficult decision, particularly in light of the urgent repairs that are needed and which would be fixed with this project. However, in these last few weeks we have a dramatically changed situation with new information about the reliability of federal funding. The current drama unfolding in Washington completely changes the risk calculus.
Last week the Institute for Museum and Library Studies (IMLS) was effectively closed, and the administration told libraries across the country that awarded grants have been terminated. I am aware that these grants were for programs, not for construction. But subsequently the administration cut more grants for arts and humanities across the country: museums, archives, historic sites, educational projects. And they are not finished with the cuts! Needless to say, the financial instability will make major donors cautious.
The catastrophe underway in Washington is ongoing and for the foreseeable future faces no obstacles. We have to hope it will be stopped and reversed, but we have a long way to go before that happens, if it does. I feel the risk of losing federal funding is very high, or at least extremely unpredictable. Already this administration has cut funding for projects that are funded and half-completed, such as research trials underway and half-finished field studies. Millions of dollars wasted – absolutely horrific!
This administration could pull funding for anything, especially for a project that is not yet underway. This is not a climate to launch a costly project that is dependent on federal funding! If we commit to this and the federal funding falls through, the tax-payers of Amherst will have to pick up the bill – as will our school children, the DPW, Fire Department, the Rec Department, the Police Department – in fact, every town program and every taxpayer.
We are suddenly faced with very dramatically changed circumstances regarding the federal government. It’s time to be resilient and adapt to this very different reality. We should move past the pro-and-con sides of the library expansion debate and agree that everything has changed. This is a sudden national catastrophe. We need to protect Amherst!
Meg Gage
Meg Gage is the now-retired founding director of the Peace Development Fund and the Proteus Fund, national organizations based in Amherst that organize within philanthropy to advance campaigns related to peace, human rights, and democracy. She is a graduate of ARHS and taught at the high school. She served on the recent Charter Commission and is currently the chair of the Participatory Budgeting Commission and on the Planning Team of the District One Neighborhood Association (DONA).
thank you Meg. a very sensible argument for why the project should be stopped.
Regardless of whether we “love our library”, funding for this project is no longer under our control. As Meg states, we are faced with a national catastrophe. We must use our limited Town financial resources to support our schools and our basic Town services. Thank you to Councilors Cathy Schoen, Jennifer Taub, and Robert Hegner for calling the special Town Council meeting April 14 to rescind the funding approval.
Meg’s excellent letter provides a solid foundation on which both sides in the library debate can agree. I hope that the Town Council will use this opportunity to rethink what is best for the library, the town and our common priorities in these uncertain times.
Reprioritize spending of Taxpayers money. Let’s end this foolishness and stop this ever expanding cost for a non-essential project.
Amherst residents should not have to continually pay more for pet projects while there is so much that actually needs to be done.
Thank you all for your common sense and civic sensibility.
Well said, Meg: thanks many millions, especially for our kids and our teachers, and also for our libraries, which all need tender, loving care – not demolition and expansion!
Let’s call it what it is: The Amity Street Horror.
The Town and Fontaine contractors are depending on change orders to accommodate costs that weren’t contemplated six months ago, and those known like historic preservation requirements along with a grossly inadequate contingency budget.
Change orders are non-negotiable after the 1993 brick addition is knocked down.
Yes, dreams die hard, but this dream is not the only one being shattered by the new Administration. We need to focus our limited financial resources on the dreams of our children for a quality education, the dreams of our local families for affordable food and housing, and the dreams of all our residents for a just and equitable society.