News
Newer News | Older News
January 24, 2012
New McAuliffe Branch Library Project
Could Receive Funding in July, 2013
Framingham can probably expect to receive Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ (MBLC’s) funds to build a new McAuliffe Branch Library in July, 2013, according to Rosemary Waltos and Patience Jackson, Library Building Consultants for the MBLC. The MBLC met with Framingham Public Library officials on December 14, 2011, at the Northborough Public Library. Also attending the meeting were Jeanne Kelley, FPL Director, Jane Peck, FPL Assistant Director; FPL Trustees Sam Klaidman, Jan Harrington, and Ruth Winett; Tony Hsiao, an architect with Finegold +Alexander Architects, and Sondra Vandermark, Vandermark Consulting.
Upon signing a contract with the MBLC, Framingham will receive 30% of the Commonwealth’s share of the cost of the new branch, with the requirement that construction would begin by July, 2014.
Before Framingham can receive funding for the McAuliffe project, municipalities that are ahead of Framingham on the MBLC’s list must receive local allocations for their projects or withdraw their applications because their communities will not fund their portions of the cost. In addition, the Executive Office for Finance and Administration must release funds previously allocated for library construction projects.
At the meeting Ms. Jackson and Ms. Waltos noted the high quality of Sondra Vandermark’s feasibility study. They also provided constructive feedback on the plans for the new McAuliffe Branch Library, which will be located on Water Street, east of the Nobscot Plaza.
Framingham remains sixth on a waiting list of 15. The eight municipalities that were awarded funds in July, 2011 have until January 31, 2012 to obtain local funds for their projects. Six month extensions are sometimes granted.
July 14th, 2011
Board of Library Commissioners Has Placed Framingham Public Library (McAuliffe Branch) Project Sixth on the Construction Grant Waiting List
At its Board Meeting at the
Northborough Free Library on Thursday, July 14, 2011, the Massachusetts
Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) voted to place Framingham Public
Library (McAuliffe Branch) on a waiting list for a provisional library
construction grant. The grant is part of the MBLC’s Massachusetts Public
Library Construction Program (MPLCP) which helps libraries across the
state meet the growing demand for library services with expanded and
improved library facilities. Over the past ten years, in-person visits
to Massachusetts public libraries have increased by 50% with over 34
million visits to libraries and 64.5 million items borrowed in 2010 year
alone.
Twenty-eight libraries completed the
grant round process. Through a rigorous review process, eight projects
have been awarded provisional grants and fifteen projects have been
placed on a waiting list. Wait-listed libraries will receive their
grants as funds become available through the state’s five–year capital
plan or if a grant recipient is unable to move forward with a project.
“Our residents support the library and
are using it more than ever. Obviously we would have preferred to be one
of the eight recipients, but it was a highly competitive grant round. We
will continue working on to correct existing problems at the main
library and continue to raise funds to build the new branch. We’re proud
to have completed the process and we’ll be ready when the funding
becomes available for our library, “said Jeanne Kelley, Director.
The preliminary design is for a
one-story building of about 17,000 square feet. The building is ‘L’
shaped, adjacent to the
Libraries in the following communities
have also been placed on the waiting list (listed according to rank):
Athol,
The last time that wait-listed
libraries were awarded provisional construction grants was in 2008,
after the Governor and the Legislature authorized funding to the MPLCP
as part of the General Governmental Needs Bond Bill. It is this same
funding that supports the current grant round.
MPLCP was first funded by a state bond
authorization in 1987. From July 1989 through June, 2011, 204
construction grants totaling $320.3 million have been awarded to assist
cities and towns in construction or renovation and expansion of their
public libraries. In addition, 91 planning and design grants totaling
over $1.8 million have been awarded to support public libraries as they
prepare to apply for a construction grant.
For more information about the MBLC's Massachusetts Public
Library Construction Program please visit:
http://mblc.state.ma.us/grants/construction/index.php
June 7th, 2011
Special Presentation:
Understanding Nobscot's Past; Building its Future
Tuesday, June 14th, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Heritage at Framingham
747 Water Street, Framingham, MA
Join us for a fascinating glimpse of local history as Amy Finstein, Architectural Historian, details the history and evolution of the Nobscot neighborhood. We will examine the history of library buildings in the area and the many focal points that have defined this neighborhood, including the Christa McAuliffe Branch Library. Christa McAuliffe’s mother, Grace Corrigan, will speak about raising Christa in Nobscot/Saxonville and what the library meant to her. Sam Klaidman, Library Trustee and Building Committee chairman will describe the proposed new library design and layout.
Presented by the
Framingham Library Foundation
and hosted by Heritage at Framingham
May 4th, 2011
FPAC Airs McAuliffe Building Project Interview
Framingham Public Access Television's The Audrey Hall Show recently featured an interview with Jeanne Kelley, Framingham Public Library Director, Sam Klaidman, Building Committee Chair and Trustee, Jo-Anne Thompson, Foundation Chair and Trustee, and Ruth Winett, Chair of the Library Trustees, regarding the McAuliffe Building Project.
The full episode is available for viewing on FPAC's website here.
March 21st, 2011
Framingham Public Library Foundation, Inc.
The Framingham Public Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that was established in 2010 to raise money for a McAuliffe Branch Library and to create a library endowment fund. Foundation funds are intended to supplement the funds the Town allocates each year to support the two Framingham Public Libraries, not to replace Town funds.
If you would like to make a donation or a pledge to the Foundation or Buy a Brick to support the McAuliffe project, click here for more information.
January 18th, 2011
Special Town Meeting Gives Library the Go-Ahead
At a Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, January 12, 2011, the Library obtained overwhelming support from Town Meeting for two articles that authorize the Library to go forward with the new McAuliffe Branch Library Construction Grant process. In passing Article 3, Town Meeting signified its approval of the preliminary design for a new McAuliffe Branch Library. In passing Article 4, Town Meeting authorized purchase of a site at 732-746 RR Water Street, contingent upon receipt of a Mass Board of Library Construction Grant and Town Meeting funding of the Town’s share of the cost of the building (50%) at a later Town Meeting. The vote for Article 4 was 103 for, 5 against, 1 abstention.
Town Meeting heard presentations by Chair of the Trustees, Ruth Winett, and Jim Alexander, Partner, Finegold Alexander + Associates Architects, concerning Article 3. Ms. Winett said that the Main Library will continue to be the Town’s central library and that the Trustees and staff plan to enhance this facility and make it more accessible. She also said that the existing Branch needs $422,000 in improvements.
Mr. Alexander described the design of the new facility and its relationship to the site and surroundings. He also linked the design to Astronaut Christa McAuliffe.
Building Committee Chair, Sam Klaidman, described
the site and spoke about the site selection and bidding processes
(Article 4). He stressed that Town Meeting will have the opportunity to
vote on the project again, if
Following Mr. Klaidman, Dr. Amy Finstein, Professor at the Mass School of Art, noted that in building a library on this site, the Library is returning the site to one of its original uses: home of a small library and post office that was moved from the site of to its current location across Water Street from the site of the proposed new Branch.
Earlier in January the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, Capital Budget Committee, Ways and Means Committee, and Real Property Committee all voted with little or no opposition to support Articles 3 and 4.
Newer News | Older News