By Lynne Hendricks
AMESBURY — Four years after a multimillion-dollar public library renovation project was defeated by public referendum, library trustees are resurrecting the idea of bringing Amesbury's aging library system into the 21st century.
Trustees recently agreed to fund the $5,800 cost to update the library's building program, which is a necessary precursor to an architectural design and a first step in getting a renovation effort back on track.
According to Library Director Katie McDonough, the drafty old building is too small to meet the needs of the growing populace and was deemed so nine years ago when the first building program was written. At that time, the building program found that based on population growth, collection size and community needs, Amesbury was in need of a 24,000-square-foot library facility — more than double its current size.
"Sandra 'Sunny' Vandermark is a library building consultant, and she did the program back in 2000 — nine years ago," McDonough said. "That's kind of a long time in the library world, so the feeling was it was time to get that updated. I would expect (that recommendation) to increase; I'm just not sure by how much."
McDonough said the aging library has been in dire need of renovation or rebuild for a number of years, and she cited the facility's old electrical wiring, inefficient energy envelope and lack of space as major impediments to its functional use.
"It's obviously too small," McDonough said of the 11,000-square-foot building. "That is simply and clearly not enough space."
Also an issue, according to McDonough, is the fact that the building's not fully accessible to those living with disabilities. And there's no meeting space for residents to use for special programs, which is an increasingly common use of the modern town library.
"The temperature and humidity control is very poor," which has necessitated the removal of Amesbury's collection of rare books to a climate-controlled room at the Merrimac library, McDonough said.
Amesbury once housed books from the personal collection of abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier, along with antique periodicals and hand-written manuscripts too rare and delicate to be kept in a moist climate. They've all been moved, pending Amesbury's future ability to safely house them.
"We have a good bit of local history material, and temperature and humidity control is definitely a concern with that," McDonough said.
Mayor Thatcher Kezer said the library building program study is the beginning of a process he hopes will end in a new, modern library facility for Amesbury. He wasn't in office when the last effort was defeated, he said, but he feels the city lost an opportunity back then to use to use state funds and get the project completed.
"It's not laid out the way you'd use a modern library," Kezer said. "It's in rough shape. It's not sealed. There's moisture and heat loss."
Kezer said he plans to look very closely at the efficiency of that Main Street building as it relates to meeting the needs of the community. And he left room for the possibility of rebuilding a new facility at another location if the building program recommends as much.
"We're taking a very long, step-by-step process to make sure the end result is what Amesbury needs in a library," he said.
Vandermark is again taking on the task of updating the building program, according to McDonough, which is a requirement for receiving some of the state funding that's available for library rebuilding projects. But until the study is complete next fall, McDonough said it's too early to predict whether the town's best bet will be to seek out a new building or add onto the existing structure.
"(The program) would hopefully, ultimately result in either a new library building or a renovation and addition," McDonough said. "We won't know until the study is done."
