There was lots of feedback at the 2023 town meeting about the building and the project.  How has the project made compromises with changes to the plan since the 2023 town election when the voters voted the measure down?

Understanding that most of the feedback was driven by the project's cost, the Library Building Committee (LBC) has worked with our Construction Manager, Turnstone, to substitute lower-cost materials where it would not compromise the building integrity or success of the design. 

We’ve also deferred elements of the landscape plan that are not immediately necessary for the library’s function and could potentially be done later through additional fundraising efforts.  Between substituting lower-cost materials and deferring some landscaping, the LBC found a total $310K in cost savings in addition to accounting for $180K in material cost increases between 2023 and 2024. 

Another change in 2024 was to add the sprinkler system cost into the overall project cost. This is based on our discussions with MVFD. While adding the sprinkler system will protect this future town asset, the estimated added cost to the project is $350,000. 

• This added cost unfortunately masks the tremendous effort that went into finding $310,000 in cost savings.

We did not redesign the building to be smaller. It took several years and significant financial investment to produce a design with documentation thorough enough for a contractor to provide a reliable cost estimate. Since the majority of voters at the 2023 Town Meeting were in favor of this library design and the project has many significant donors whose contributions are tied to the design, the Library Trustees did not think it prudent to risk the loss of private funds by investing significant tax dollars in a new smaller design. The cost of the redesign, coupled with the increase in construction costs caused by the delay, would likely result in a higher tax impact for a smaller building with less programming ability.

Why can't we buy and renovate an existing building? 

It would be great if we could do that but it's not as easy as it sounds to renovate an existing building in town. Unfortunately, commercial building codes and ADA requirements makes it extremely difficult to do this. In the many decades leading up to the current New Library Project proposal, past library building committees looked at such options and it wasn't possible. 

When considering renovating another building in town to be used as a new library, there are many obstacles:

• Any residential building purchased would need to be upgraded to meet commercial building codes.

• The structure would need to be modified to accommodate the floor load of stacks of books. 

• Inadequate 'sight lines' inside the space would likely require more staff, which is an additional cost to the town. 

• Necessary defined spaces for children, adults, teens, programs, etc., would be difficult to include in an existing building renovation.

The Needs Assessment is frequently cited as justification for the project - do the project proposers agree with everything in it? 

The short answer-

Yes. The Library Needs Assessment was the first step in creating the New Library Project and this study served as a necessary starting point of the design process.

The longer answer-

It has been known for decades that:

• our current library is too small to hold programs while continuing normal library functions

• it does not offer an adequate collection size

• is not ADA accessible. 

In 2018 the Library Trustees hired a professional library consultant to update the previous study (from 2008) of our current space and give recommendations to what an appropriately-sized library in Mont Vernon should entail. This was named "2018 The Library Needs Assessment."

The report indicated major deficiencies in size and accessibility. The report also indicated many necessary improvements, based on our current and projected population, as well as library usage (ie children's room, adult reading room, small meeting room, programming room, etc.) 

We used the reports and recommendations from the 2018 Library Needs Assessment as a starting point when designing the new library building and the findings are agreeable.

The needs assessment report recommended a 7151 to 7437 sq ft building. Why does the proposed building exceed this recommendation at 7600 sq ft?

The design is based on developing appropriate spaces for each of the functional areas identified in the Needs Assessment and then working them into an efficient footprint. 

It is very challenging to reverse-design a building to meet an exact overall size without compromising on the efficiency and function of individual spaces, or the simplicity of the overall structure. Structural simplicity has a greater impact on cost than square footage. 

How many more books and other materials will the new library hold?

The staff anticipates using available Trust Funds to initially increase the collection by more than 3,000 physical materials (about 30% more than we currently have). There is also space to expand that even more over time. 

The plan, if the library were to pass, would be to weed through our current collection based on our Collection Development Policy to make sure we are only moving the best of the collection to the new site to help reduce moving costs and keep shelves open for new books. There are four Trust Funds held by the Town Trustees earmarked for the purchase of “library books only.” This includes $59,000 in available funds for “books” with an additional $31,000 for “library use”. The Library Trustees will request the release of these funds to start the process of filling the shelves with new books. The current library has always lacked the space for a true core collection in all areas but especially Adult Non Fiction, Adult Classics, Adult Fiction Series,Young Adult Fiction and Children’s Picture Books. A plan to spend a portion of these Trust Funds annually to greatly enhance the current materials budget will expand the collection quickly without the burden falling on the taxpayer.

Can you tell me more about the Community Room and its role in the new library?

The Community Room was primarily designed for daily library programs and activities, as well as meetings and gatherings of town organizations, but it will also be available for other purposes when scheduling allows. The Library Trustees will adopt a Meeting Room Use Policy to assure it is clear how and when it can be used. 

The space can hold a maximum of 75 patrons when arranged classroom style. Residents of the  community will initially be able to reserve this space by scheduling with library staff. The long term goal is to utilize scheduling software to make this process seamless. The design of this space allows access both from inside the library and from a second access point directly to the outside. This allows the Community Room to be used  during regular library hours as well as allowing events and meetings to be held when the library is closed without requiring library staff to be present. 

Expenses such as cleaning normally falls under the responsibility of the Daland Trust (at no cost to the town ), however,  the Meeting Room Use Policy will address any special requirements associated with this unique space including cleaning requirements and opening/closing procedures.

Does the new library provide computers for public usage?

Yes! The new library will provide computers for public usage as well as several Adult and Young Adult desk stations where patrons can use their own computers while taking advantage of the free WiFi. 

Would it be reasonable that since more than 43% of the voters at 2023 Town Meeting voted down the proposed 7600 sq ft building, that the next year (for 2024) the project would take that feedback into consideration and scale down the project size?

While it seems logical that designing a smaller building for 2024 would be a good middle ground, in practical terms it would not have been possible.

It takes several years and significant financial investment ($350K+) to produce a building design with documentation that is thorough enough for a contractor to provide a reliable cost. Since the majority of voters at the 2023 Town Meeting were in favor of this library design and the project has many significant donors whose contributions are tied to the design, the Library Trustees did not think it prudent to risk the loss of private funds by investing significant tax dollars in a new smaller design. The cost of the redesign, coupled with the increase in construction costs caused by the delay, would likely result in a higher tax impact for a smaller building with less programming ability.

Exactly which population size was used in the needs assessment to justify the building size recommendation? Based on the above analysis of the needs assessment, does it seem reasonable for people to ask why the library seems “too large”?

1. The Library Needs Assessment utilized the average space ratio of 40 public libraries in towns that have a population between 2,000-3,000 residents. The Assessment has served as a starting point in the design process of the New Library Project. 

It is very challenging to reverse-design a building to meet an exact overall size without compromising on the efficiency and function of individual spaces, or the simplicity of the overall structure. Structural simplicity has a greater impact on cost than square footage. 

2. It is reasonable for residents to question town projects and respectfully voice concerns. It is your town after all and understanding town projects is important. 

Some may feel that this building size is too large, while others have voiced that the new design still may not be big enough. There is no one size that is going to be perfect for everyone, but we can only build one library.  

Has the library project considered presenting two options to the community to vote on - e.g., the 7600 sq ft version and a 5000 sq ft version?

In theory, this would be great! However, while scaling the project back sounds like a way to reduce the cost, it may not be an adequate way to save once you take several factors into account:

• Site costs are a significant part of the project, and they are largely unaffected by the size of the building.

• Designing a second library option to the point where you could get a reasonable cost estimate would require a significant investment that has not been voted on.

• Naming Rights donors have committed more than $1.5M to the project based on this specific design, (which becomes nearly $2M when the NEH grant is applied).

  • Without that $2M contribution mentioned above, a 5,000 SF design would cost more to the town than the 7,600 SF design proposed. 

A library project with a much bigger footprint was built recently in North Hampton in 2021. Does the project and its budget compare to the $4 million library built in North Hampton for an 11000 sq ft library? 

North Hampton voted to build an 11,000 SF library despite having a population of only 4,553. According to this article it is the 4th library North Hampton has paid for since 1892 (The proposed project would be Mont Vernon’s first!) North Hampton's 3rd version was built in 1973 and they outgrew it within 25 years. So this time, they went big. They have a very similar program too— including a community room— just on a larger scale. This is a good data point for us. The proposed size of the new library is based on the hope we’ll avoid becoming North Hampton’s 'Too-Small Version #3', and have to go through this all over again 30 years from now.

As it relates to the cost question, the answer is multi-faceted. Without having seen the breakdown of that $4M, it’s very unlikely it included anything outside the basic construction of the building itself (likely that it did not include furnishings, equipment, design fees, etc.- aka ‘soft costs’. Our 2024 Draft Warrant Article includes all of these additional costs.) Other factors may include when it was built (inflation particularly in construction has been crazy since the pandemic), style of the building and economy of scale.

Is the library project committee open to new ideas or modifications to the current proposal?

Absolutely! All Library Building Committee meetings are open to the public and posted in advance. The public is welcome to attend and offer any suggestions they may have. We are also very open to new volunteers who may have time and expertise they are willing to invest in the project.