In this space, we’ll try to answer some questions that you might have about the library building project. Please email them to lfd@noblenet.org or send to 18 Summer Street, Lynnfield, MA 01940.
The Lynnfield Library is participating in a grant cycle that began with our legislators at the state level in 2008 and spans the course of about seven to nine years. The approval of the Governor’s five-year Construction Bill, which funds the present grant cycle – in this instance to fund about twenty Planning and Design grants throughout the Commonwealth – allowed for state-level financial support of our Planning and Design Grant, awarded in June 2014. The Library Building Program, using information derived from a feasibility study, surveys and information gathering, determined the future space requirements of a new or renovated library and was submitted to the MA Board of Library Commissioners as part of the requirements for the Planning and Design Grant in May 2015. An Owner’s Project Manager was hired who helped us with the selection of the project architect – William Rawn Associates, Architects.
With schematic design in hand the architects, trustees, and Building Committee members come to the April 2016 Town Meeting to complete the next step in this process and ask the residents for their approval of the preliminary schematic design and authorization to apply for a state construction grant in January 2017 (the next step in this lengthy process). At this stage, no funding or approval of funding is needed or requested.
The library provides very high levels of services to our community by offering an average of one program each day, maintaining a diverse collection of physical and print items, and partnering with local cultural centers to offer a museum pass program, which is estimated to save users $21,000 to $34,000 each year. Each day 200+ people from our community use the library to study, meet, and learn. The building project is an opportunity to further enhance and transform our services as we strive to express the concept of a 21st Century Library: by envisioning dynamic spaces for stimulating conversation with friends, neighbors, and classmates, an innovative learning center, and an environment to stimulate imagination and creativity, with a focus on user-centered materials and services.
