Letter: Jones Library Improvement Should Be Right-sized And Within Our Means

Matt Blumenfeld (Thoughts on “Amherst Residents Seek Referendum On Borrowing For Jones Library Expansion”) has pointed to the recently renovated libraries in Athol, Chicopee, Holyoke, South Hadley, Sunderland, Springfield and West Springfield as appealing examples of what modernized libraries can look like.  Like others in town, I find some beneficial aspects in the Jones Library plan. But then I remember that Amherst has at least three multi-million dollar capital projects in the queue, including a widely desired elementary school replacement that our financial decision makers tell us will need to be financed by a debt exclusion tax override.  Property owners are probably aware that Amherst currently has the ninth highest property tax rate in Massachusetts, and every excess dollar spent on the library expansion could be used to reduce the size of the upcoming override amount for the schools.

A read through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners most recent (2018) statistics offers some interesting insights.  Of the seven aforementioned library renovations, the most expensive was Holyoke’s state-subsidized $14.5 million project.  The Jones Library expansion weighs in at $35.6 million – 2.5 times more costly than Holyoke.

At the same time, the Jones Library’s current size of 48,000 square feet is already larger than any of the seven renovated libraries.  Amherst is the 41st largest municipality in the state, or if you take away the students (who have their own libraries anyway), the 108th largest.  Yet the Jones Library is currently the 22nd largest library in Massachusetts.  The planned expansion to 62,752 square feet would make the Jones the 9th largest library in the state today.

I believe that our decision makers have been blinded by the MBLC’s anticipated $13.9 grant offer to the extent that they ignore what Amherst really needs, and how much the Town’s $16+ million share of the library expansion cost will come back to hurt us in the coming years.

For that reason, I support the citizen petition to reconsider the Jones Library appropriation and put it on the ballot for the voters to decide.

Jeff Lee

Jeff Lee is a resident of Amherst