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Library to shut during project
Trustees: Closure will make expansion quicker, cheaper
Thursday, May 1, 2008
SCHENECTADY — The main branch of the Schenectady County library system will be closed for 18 months during the expansion project, library trustees said Wednesday. In a vote April 24, the trustees agreed to shut down the bustling library because the project could be done more quickly and would cost much less with the building closed. The building could be closed as early as June, although some county legislators have discussed delaying the entire project because of its cost. The project would take a year longer if the library were kept open, Board of Trustees President Esther Swanker said. It would also cost an additional $1 million to $1.5 million on top of the original $7.7 million budget, she said. “It would be much more expensive and much more time-consuming,” she said. The trustees also decided it would be too expensive to move some library resources to a temporary location that could be used by library patrons during the project. One option was to spend $500,000 turning the top floor of the Carl Company Building into a library. “That’s not a wise expenditure,” Swanker said. “We have nine branches. This is an excellent chance to put them to very good use.” But not all the trustees are happy with the decisions. Trustee John Karl said the project simply cannot go forward with such a long closure. “Closing the library for that period of time would be unacceptable,” he said. Karl said no one knew that the library would be closed until the clerk of the works, Anthony Ward, took a look at the plans two weeks ago. “He said this design would not be practical to achieve without closing the library for 18 months,” Karl said. “When he saw the plans, he said, ‘We can’t keep it open.’” The news came as a shock to trustees and county legislators. “None of us saw this coming,” County Legislator Karen Johnson said. “But we should have. We’re talking about HVAC, electricity … there will be times the building will be without electricity.” Legislator Vincent DiCerbo added that although he had no idea the project would require such a long closure, the work must be done. “HVAC, electricity — that absolutely has to be done. For 30 years the county skimped on maintenance,” he said. “If the library has to be closed, I don’t see we have any other choice.” Staffers will be able to get into the building during construction, so Swanker envisions an interlibrary loan system that would allow residents to request main branch books and receive them days later at one of the other branches. The same system could work for the main branch’s large collection of audio books, videos and DVDs. Staffers are designing the operations plan now, Swanker said. But Karl and others aren’t ready to give up yet. “The branches are not suitable to absorb much at all of our programs and services,” Karl said. So the Friends of the Library and library staff met Tuesday night to discuss temporary library sites downtown. County Legislator Gary Hughes, chairman of the Committee on Libraries and Education, said he’s hoping sites could provide Internet access and meeting space for the many programs the library offers each week. The semi-annual Friends of the Library book sale may be moved to City Hall, he said. Among the other sites discussed were the Carl Company Building, which could be used at much less cost if it isn’t turned into a full-fledged library, and the Annie Schaffer Senior Center, which has been closed for four years and might need substantial work. Karl said “We’re trying to keep the services downtown. A majority of the people who access our library are people who live in and around the areas. Many of them come on foot. That’s a big concern — we have 1,400 people a day. What are you going to do with them?” Hughes later said that 10 percent of the patrons at the main branch come from the 12305 ZIP code, the immediate area of the library, while 90 percent come from areas also served by branches. The majority drive when visiting the main branch. Hughes wants to find downtown sites for the library’s popular lunchtime, evening and weekend programs, but emphasized that he doesn’t support opening the library during the construction. “I can’t emphasize strongly enough that it’s for the safety of the patrons,” he said. “This will be an active construction site. The asbestos, turning the power on and off … it really would not be a safe location.” The project went out to bid this week, Karl said. County officials had previously announced that construction could begin as early as June if the project gets reasonable bids. The price tag is expected to be $7.7 million, but the county faces a budget shortfall of at least $5 million in 2009. Legislators are seeking ways to reduce costs and increase revenues without resorting to tax increases; some have discussed delaying the start of several major construction projects, such as the library expansion, as a way to reduce costs next year. There is also talk about closing library branches and reducing nonmandated services. The county Legislature would provide $5.7 million toward the project, paid through bonds. The library board and Friends of the Library have raised about $2 million in private donations since the project was announced four years ago.
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December 3, 2008
8:13 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
Another "only in Schenectady (we hope)" story. How could it possibly be that NO ONE in County government or within Library management thought about whether the Main branch would need to close during this expansion project? As usual, we seem to have the worst of all worlds as citizens: bad policy, bad service, and leaders who lie to us or are totally inept.
1:11 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
How can you close the MAIN library in Schenectady for 18 months?? This is the ONLY library that has internet access, to Heritage Quest and Ancestry, available to the public. This service is NOT available at the Branch Libraries. There are a lot of us, living in the area, that use this service.
6:08 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
I don't think the Trustees have thought this through at all. For example, they suggest that the Friends' book sale be held in City Hall. I guess it didn't occur to them that the books don't materialize by magic, but that there also needs to be a place to collect, sort, and store them. Or perhaps they expect the volunteers to do this in the closed, dark Library, under conditions that are considered unsafe for patrons. Even more importantly, what about the Library staff - how are they supposed to fetch the books from the powerless, asbestos-contaminated library for interlibrary loans to the branches? How will they purchase and process and store new books? Or do they intend to suspend all new book purchases, and lay off all of the staff, for a year and a half?
11:26 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
The plan hatched by the County Legislature to shut down the Central Library for the entire duration of the renovation project is foolish and irresponsible. Any competent team of architects and engineers could plan the project in stages so that interruptions of service would be brief (days or weeks). Once again, the legislature has produced an expensive and unworkable solution to the Library's needs. They obviously care little about the citizens of Schenectady.
11:44 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
I would like to expand on the 1.5 million the Co. Legislature said it would cost to keep the library open during construction. No one except the legislature wants the expensive, high-maintence new entrance or the coffee shop. Removing those two things from the plan would more than cover the extra cost of keeping the library open, except for a few weeks. The trustees had an economical, no frills plan three years ago to give the citizens of the county the space they need for library services. The legislature choose to delay in order to have a fancier, more costly building. They caused the higher price, not the people, who will be denied the use of the building for eighteen months. Shame on the legislature, who choose not to serve the people!
9:20 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
PART ONE
On May 6, 2001, Gazette reporter Marilyn Hipp reported that a 24,000 square-foot expansion to the main library would cost $8.3 million, based on a December 1999 consultant's report. "The plan include[d] a two-story addition, which would house a children's library and a nonfiction collection, and would free up much-needed space."
By 2005, the library expansion was whittled down to a one-story, 12,000 square-foot project costing $4.9 million, of which the county Legislature agreed to contribute $2 million.
In "Library kicks off expansion campaign" (Michael Lamendola, February 25, 2004), we read:
"The county library has received $500,000 - its largest contribution ever - toward a $2.9 million fund-raising campaign to build a children's reading center at the main branch.
. . .
"Work is scheduled to begin during the summer of 2005 and be completed by the winter of 2006.
"It will contain a 5,750-square-foot children's center, a 750-square-foot section for young adults, a 170-seat performance center, a 1,000-square-foot gallery and space that can be used to tutor students and for quiet reading."
Around 2004, the county Legislature decided it wanted to control the library's expansion plans. It hired a new architectural firm and substantially redesigned the proposal for a 15,000 square-foot expansion costing $7.7 million. A coffee shop and outdoor dining area were added, as were new furniture, lighting, and a new heating system (Lamendola, December 7, 2005: "Cost for library grows to $7.7M - Original project didn't include many items now listed"). By March 2006 it appeared that the repair and expansion project would require a fire-control sprinkler system at an unknown cost (Lamendola, March 17, 2006: "Library renovation costs continue to rise - Building may need a fire-control sprinkler system").
9:21 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
PART TWO
What to do? Around October 2006, the county Legislature approved a $7.7 million, 9,000-square-foot expansion that eliminated a proposed second entrance but retained a newly designed entrance with an expanded lobby and a small cafe. The Gazette reported, "The county Legislature is expected to provide $5.7 million toward the cost of the project, paid through bonds. The library board and Friends of the Library have raised approximately $2 million. . . . The work would be performed in phases, which would allow the library to remain open during most of the construction" (Lamendola, October 4, 2006: "Library improvements advance - Scaled-down expansion likely to get county's OK").
Unfortunately, the new entrance called for the demolition of the cherished McChesney Room, which the original plans did not. The Schenectady Heritage Foundation's Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution "supporting all efforts to preserve the present award-winning, architectural integrity" of the library (Lamendola, April 14, 2007: "Group aims to save McChesney Room - $7.7 million library renovation includes planned demolition").
That brings us to May 2008. There's been no construction. Many pledged donations have been revoked. People are dissatisfied over the design and highly dissatisfied with the 18-month proposed closure during construction. The 24,000 square-feet we could have gotten for around $8 million in 2000 has been reduced to 9,000 square-feet in 2008.
What does it mean? Who are the heroes? The villains? What should be done now? I won't be so pretentious as to tell you, but I do envy Rip Van Winkle's talent for eliminating his problems by sleeping for decades in the Catskill Mountains.