Mid’town library upgrade proposed
Grant, private

funding expected to cover more than half of $8.3M cost

By elaine van develde

Staff Writer

It’s wanted, and it’s warranted, but rehabilitation of the township’s main library on New Monmouth Road is an expensive undertaking that no one is certain will endure essential fund raising.

Nonetheless, the Township Committee passed a resolution at its July 16 meeting saying that it supports the revamp, but "can’t necessarily promise we’ll go forward with providing the needed funds," said Mayor Joan Smith. The resolution was a show of support, not to be misconstrued as a commitment of funds.

"I’d love to see a state-of-the-art new library. Unfortunately, oftentimes, good things cost so much," Smith added. The entire project is estimated to cost $8.3 million and, according to Library Director Susan O’Neill, is supported by a polled public. Whether or not that public is willing to foot the bill is another matter.

When the facts and figures are dissected, the bottom line is that a large portion of the funds for the project would be supported by a matching grant that the library is now seeking. The remainder of the cost would, in the best-case scenario, be absorbed by fund raising and library money already in the bank. What this amounts to for the township is probably footing the bill for about $3.9 million, according to O’Neill’s assessment.

"The grant would cover about 20 percent of the project, or $1.3 million, the maximum allowable funding. The remainder would be taken up in local funds dedicated to the library purpose (fees, fines, etc.), capital campaign fund raising and the township. I’m estimating that the fund-raising aspect will require bringing in about $2.5 million to $3 million in private dollars to support the project as designed," O’Neill said.

Now immersed in submitting the grant application for state legislated funds, O’Neill says that the whole project was conceived as a "needs-based approach. We used public opinion from a poll that was circulated through the township’s Middletown Matters newsletter. Of all the households in Middletown, 6 percent responded or 2,000 people. Cumulative experience was also a factor, though public opinion was relied upon heavily when coming to conclusions about the direction of the project."

To "fill in the vision," O’Neill said an architect was hired. That architect, a specialist in library design, Todd Harvey of Beatty-Harvey and Associates of New York, has completed well over 45-50 library projects. "There hasn’t been a single one of his buildings that didn’t have the flavor of the community," O’Neill commented.

Harvey’s fee was covered by "library fines and fees money that was socked away," O’Neill said. Harvey has been working since January on the project. O’Neill justifies his hiring saying that she "didn’t want to talk in abstract terms. I wanted to present a concrete picture to the Township Committee," which she now has.

Harvey will see the project through the first phase of the grant process. She’s determined to not miss a trick in applying for the grant, because she sees it as a rare library opportunity.

"The legislature is going to provide $45 million for public library construction. The last time there were any funds doled out for libraries via legislation was 10-years-ago. To my knowledge, at least 70 libraries intend to take advantage of this, and I intend to do everything possible to make certain Middletown is not left out," she said.

What needs to be done? Well, to hear O’Neill tell it, the library is just plain outdated and has outlived its original intent. She says the basic structure of the New Monmouth Road library headquarters building is good, but the mechanical system has "outlived itself," the electrical system has no room for expansion for new technology, the building is worn and dated, and there is just not enough room for all the books.

"We’re trying to fit 160,000 volumes in a building planned for 120,000. When this library opened in 1971, people probably thought that it would never be filled beyond capacity. Times change, though, and we’re at that point," O’Neill assessed.

"The whole thing is about people and books," she continued, noting that the present structure lacks a definition of space in an effort to provide "defined rather than layered services."

The people needs, as O’Neill put it, encompass defining space for particular purposes, such as reading, studying, accessing the Internet and research. "Children and adults both need their own program space," she said. "For instance, the one program room we now have needs to be set up and reconfigured three to four times a day."

A major component of the revamp plan will be to fit programs in with the right space specifically designated for particular purposes and library populations. "For instance, the children’s story time would take place right in the middle of the children’s area, which would be designed for craft times and be child proofed," O’Neill cited.

While the deadline for filing for the grant is July 31, O’Neill says applicants won’t know until November or December whether or not they’ve been accepted. In the meantime, the library is in the process of hiring a feasibility consultant, who will study to determine, first, whether or not the fund-raising goal is a an attainable one before a commitment is made.

If the fund raising is deemed feasible, the consultant will "actually develop a fund-raising campaign and manage and work with us on it," O’Neill said.

When asked if she thought the public would balk at the prospect of spending money on merely deciding whether or not the project is, indeed, a feasible one, O’Neill responded that "we’re doing this, because we’d be crazy not to. Just like we wouldn’t draw plans ourselves, we wouldn’t plan a fund-raising campaign ourselves. The library’s board of directors is a volunteer one. Experience is essential to making this effort thrive. We can’t afford not to hire experts.

If all goes well, and grants, fund-raising dollars and township money comes through, the groundbreaking would be no sooner than one year from now, with a fund-raising campaign kicked off in the fall of this year.

O’Neill was quick to call attention to the fact that architectural plans for the library are on display and open to public perusal and suggestion.

Concerning backup plans for a scale back should the funds not be attainable, O’Neill said there is no such thing.

"I would hope that the plan could be scaled back. if need be. without forfeiting the grant. However, right now there is no fallback plan, because this is such a needs based project. We’re going in full steam ahead. It’s not the time and place to cut back," she concluded.