With Project Funding Uncertain, Town Seeks Temporary Library Digs

Jones Library News Highlights For The Week Of October 9, 2023

Town Puts Interim Library Quarters Out for Bid
Jones Library Director Sharon Sharry announced at the October 11 Board of Trustees meeting that the town has issued a Request for Proposal for interim space out of which to run the library should the renovation-expansion project be funded.

Should the project move past the bid phase and into construction, which is currently scheduled to begin in February 2024, the entire contents of the Jones Library will need to be moved to a separate facility. The library must, according to the terms of its Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners construction grant, meet the state’s minimum standards for free public library service.  For example, it must exceed a spending threshold for new materials, stay open at least 59 hours per week, and make its collection available to other libraries in the commonwealth.

An invitation for proposals to rent or lease property to serve as the town’s primary library site while the Jones Library is under construction has been posted to the town procurement office’s public bid database.  It seeks a minimum of 28,628 sq. ft. of vacant interior space within 20 minutes from the center of Amherst. The property must be handicapped accessible and possess restrooms that can accommodate staff and visitors, and provide ample parking. It must be able to be remodeled by the town, if necessary, at the cost of the town.

The space must be available for move in by January 1, 2024, and remain available to the town until December 1, 2025 (23 months). The bid period closes on November 10.

The renovation-expansion project budget has allocated $150,000 for the cost of moving, and $500,000 for operating the library during the approximately two years that it is in temporary quarters.

The costs for moving and operating out of an interim location are not eligible to be covered by the project’s $13.8 million state construction grant and must be borne by the Jones Library or the Town of Amherst.

Capital Campaign Reports September Results
Per its agreement with the town, the Capital Campaign to raise funds for the library building project has issued its monthly report for September.  Receipts showed improvement over recent months with $42,601 in community gifts and pledges received.  However, personnel expenses, presumably paid to campaign fundraisers, were up significantly, to $20,324 for the month.

Having now raised $7,989,173, the Capital Campaign stands $8,527,503 short of its fundraising commitment to the town of $16,516,676.

Indy readers have written in to point out that Eugene Goffredo, a first-time candidate for library trustee in the upcoming November 7 town election, is the husband of Ginny Hamilton.  Hamilton has acknowledged being the paid Jones Library Capital Campaign Manager. Goffredo, a vocal advocate for town funding for the library project, had not as of this writing disclosed his relationship to Hamilton on his campaign website.

See related Amherst Forward’s Influence Extends To Election Results, Government Policy

‘Rumors’ Suggest Council Vote on Library Project Funding to Occur Before Construction Bids Received
At the October 10 Budget Committee meeting, Library Trustee Treasurer Bob Pam expressed surprise at signals that a Town Council vote on whether or not to approve continued funding of the over-budget library building project will happen before construction costs are fully known.

“I have been hearing from a variety of sources that that the Town Council might move on this before then,” Pam commented.  “It seems hard to see how, if the town says we are approving 45 [million] and it turns out to be 46 [million], how that works. I am still a little confused about that.”

Trustee and Capital Campaign Co-Chair Lee Edwards agreed. “I have heard the same rumor and I share your thinking, [but] I’m really good at compartmentalizing the things I can’t do anything about,” she said.

Library Organization Encourages Board Watching
Libraries For the People, which describes itself as a leftist library project, has organized a Library Defender Resource Center that urges citizens to pay closer attention to the actions of public library trustees.

“Because bad things happen at unattended public library Board of Trustee meetings, we’re encouraging you to become Board Watchers for your local public library system,” their website states.

Toward this end the group has created a game called Board Watcher Bingo.  They have produced a card showing a grid of common board meeting topics.  Participants attend library trustee meetings and mark off a square when they hear the corresponding topic being discussed.  As in traditional Bingo, the goal is to mark off an entire line of squares.