Aging Bourne library doesn't make cut for town funding priorities. What does that mean?

BOURNE — Bourne Public Library trustees learned for certain this summer that a new building project is not making its way to the town’s capital construction radar screen.

There is trustee chagrin about the state of the nearly 100-year-old school-turned-library at Sandwich Road. But any new library proposal now falls far behind municipal efforts to secure a location for a new fire station south of the canal and the need to decide what to do with the Main Street firehouse, Select Board Chair Mary Jane Mastrangelo noted in an Aug. 24 explanatory email.

Mastrangelo said a new southside firehouse is among Town Administrator Marlene McCollem’s top goals for the fiscal year now into its third month.

Mastrangelo on Sept. 12, however, said she was gratified by new interest in the library's fortunes especially as they relate to strategic planning underway guided by Assistant Town Administrator Liz Hartsgrove.

What can Bourne Public Library trustees do without being a top priority for town funding?

Bourne Public Library trustees have opted to remain busy on several fronts as they chafe about the building’s future but are optimistic on more immediate needs that cannot be ignored. There is much to fix, much to update and much to plan, they have said in summer meetings.

But there is progress.

Masonry repairs to the front redbrick exterior of the circa 1924 structure at Sandwich Road, formerly the Bourne Grammar School, are pending along with a front-door replacement. And a request for proposals (RFP) to repair the leaking cupola with its distinctive whaleship weathervane is being drafted.

A building feasibility study into what the library can continue to structurally offer is funded. State Sen. Susan Moran, D-Falmouth, on Sept. 12 delivered $25,000 to help underwrite the effort.

“Libraries are more important today, possibly than ever before,” Moran told the Select Board. “Especially for young people. Bourne has an issue brought to my attention concerning efforts to make the library an even more special place to gather, to learn, and to have conversations; no matter your age.”

A five-year strategic plan with its “human centered design thinking approach,” meanwhile, has completed workshops. Results are drafted into an analytic report by Hartsgrove.

Hartsgrove on Aug. 24 advised trustees the recent community survey and public workshops involved participation by 300 residents and BPL patrons.

“A huge grassroots effort, and it paid off,” she said.

Trustees with a sense of quiet determination and productivity considered library strengths and weaknesses compiled by Hartsgrove through the Labor Day break with a Sept. 28 goal for plan acceptance.

The board does not want the building marginalized by its inadequacies that are severalfold or the latest in library science imperatives, including programs not carried in the budget.

Dealing with who, what and where issues

“There are who, what and where (issues),” noted trustee Kathy Fox Alfano. “People say they love who we are. And what we do. The ‘where’ is the problem. We have a ‘where’ problem.”

Hartsgrove agrees.

“I think you’re spot on,” she said. “It’s not what we’re offering. It’s where we’re offering it. The strategic study with its feedback will dovetail with the feasibility of this place.”

The library in 1988 moved from the yellow-brick building at Keene Street next to the canal, now the town archives, to the closed school near Trading Post Corners. Branches closed in Buzzards Bay and South Sagamore and bookmobile operations ceased, all in the name of operational centralization.

Strategic survey respondents mentioned accessibility issues.

“We need a branch library on the Buzzards Bay/Sagamore side of the bridge,” noted one.

“Hard to get to in the summer,” offered another.

“I live over the bridge, and traffic is more challenging than before the pandemic,” said a third patron.

Trustees also noted the need to brand what the library offers and participate in what they say is a badly needed governmental effort to upgrade, if not professionalize, communication at the very top of the town’s administrative echelon. Hartsgrove acknowledged that sentiment.

Trustees have also categorized issues still to unwind. All are framed by a mantra: "the library is more than a place all about books."

The building, meanwhile, has roof, gutter and leaking window problems. New windows were previously placed in frames that were disintegrating. The exterior needs attention. There is limited access to the second story. And that floor cannot be used for library operations. Some 36% of survey respondents said there is a need for building improvements.

Options: Do nothing, renovate, expand, replace

What to do? Renovate? Expand? Replace? A new library at this point is out of the question. It is no longer a trustee backdrop. On the list of capital construction priorities, it does not rate highly even though library facilities inadequacies will persist. The capital list will ultimately determine the course of events. But there are other town projects long in consideration.

“Bringing a plan and funding request for the Southside Fire Station is a priority goal for the town administrator this year,” Select Board Chair Mastrangelo said in an Aug. 24 email. “Hopefully for the annual town meeting in May 2024."

“In addition, there is a goal for formalizing infrastructure planning into the capital and long-term financial plans,” Mastrangelo noted. “It is important to set the next infrastructure priorities, which would include the library, Buzzards Bay Fire station and Town Hall. All were identified in the 2009 Facilities Report.”

She said the Select Board also has a goal this year to determine the future of the closed police station at Main Street.

Library trustees, meanwhile, retain a collective measure of optimism. They favor a centennial celebration of the old grammar school next year. Perhaps a weekend event.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Fixing Bourne's library isn't a funding priority. Why it matters.