Will Swansea finally get a new library? Voters being asked to OK $19 million in funding

Greg Sullivan
·4 min read

SWANSEA — The Swansea Free Public Library may finally get clearance to join the 21st century if town residents approve $19 million in up-front funding at special Town Meeting on Monday, Oct. 24, at Joseph Case High School.

Residents will vote on approving the funding for the renovation and expansion of the town public library on Main Street. A provisional grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners would, over a five-year period, reimburse the town $6.8 million as mandated construction benchmarks are reached.

But the grant is contingent upon the project size not dropping below the current 19,365 square feet.

The up-front $19 million funding plan, already approved by the Board of Selectmen, would combine $15 million in certified free cash with $4 million in short-term borrowing. For approval, the funding plan requires an in-favor vote of two-thirds at Town Meeting.

Library renovation/expansion is one of 16 warrant articles for presentation and vote at special Town Meeting.

An information session on the library expansion project is set for Monday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the E.S. Brown School gymnasium, 29 Gardners Neck Road.

An artist's rendering of the proposed new Swansea Public Library building.
An artist's rendering of the proposed new Swansea Public Library building.

When would the library be built?

According to an update from the nine-member Swansea Free Public Library Building Committee, Swansea is sixth on the MBLC waiting list, and if the funding is approved at Town Meeting, the design phase of the library project would run from Dec. 1, 2022, to Dec. 1, 2023, and the bid-and-construction phase would run from from January 2024 to June 2025.

In what the update calls a “worst-case scenario,” the first of the five annual MBLC provisional grant disbursements of $1,375,168 would be made on July 1, 2024.

The current library, according to the Swansea Free Library Building Committee, is deficient in a plethora of areas in which public libraries serve their communities.

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Under category of “immediate needs,” the committee update listed:

  • ADA accessibility to the building

  • adequate restrooms

  • getting the children’s program out of the basement where there is no fresh air system and moisture is an issue.

  • meeting room and reading room space

  • separate quiet space (small study rooms).

  • space flexibility

  • updated data/IT systems

  • more library staff work space

  • energy efficiency

  • parking

Under the category of “essential services to the community which the current building cannot provide”:

  • general small, medium meeting spaces

  • large meeting spaces

  • tutoring space

  • supervised custody parent/child space

  • indoor creative/maker space programs

  • internet access for residents without it

  • isolated supervised after-school teen area

  • space for historic material collection

  • ADA compliance

  • flexible design allowing for re-purposing

  • autonomous spaces for young children, teens, professionals, families, and seniors

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How Swansea's library compares to others in Massachusetts

Jim Devol, chairperson of the Swansea Free Public Library Building Committee, said that even with the current expansion plan, Swansea would still have a library square footage-to-resident ratio of about 1-to-1, lower than comparable Massachusetts communities like Seekonk (1.5-to-1) and Sharon (1.25-to-1).

The library was built at the turn of the 19th century when the town population was 1,600. The current population is 17,000, with, the town said, half the population registered library users. Its current size is about 3,700 square feet.

According to the committee update, waiting until Town Meeting in May 2023 to approve the funding would be accompanied by a $475,000 increase in cost, and waiting until Fall 2023 Special Town Meeting would add $950,000. The grant money would not increase and the town would pay for all cost escalation.

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A history of voting down such expenditures

In recent history, Swansea residents at Town Meeting have not approved warrants for a new town hall and new Highway Department buildings.

Devol — a veteran of the construction industry, with experience as a manager, estimator, project manager — said he realizes residents may look at the $19 million price tag and consider it extreme. But, he said, $1,000 per square foot is just the reality in 2022 due to supply chain challenges and a lack of workers in the trades.

And he hopes residents will realize a library is much more than shelves full of dusty books, a few desktop computers for public use, and librarians whispering hush. He said the town will be airing library project infomercials on Swansea Public Television.

Devol said he saw a Brookings Institute study showing that when libraries expand, child attendance increases by 18% and general attendance jumps by 21%.

“It’s a case of build it and they will come,” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Swansea special Town Meeting: Voters asked to OK $19M for new library