Westford Library Waitlisted for Expansion Grant

The J.V. Fletcher Library has been placed on a waitlist for a provisional construction grant issued by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

The selection does not mean a grant is imminent, but it does mean Westford is in line for $7.8 million of matched state funds between 2022 and 2023.

“It’s very promising,” said J.V. Fletcher Library Director Ellen Rainville. “The Board of Library Commissioners has $67 million in hand which they’re using to fund the first nine top ranked applicants.”

Out of a total of 33 grant applicants, nine were winners of the grant and 24 were placed on a waitlist. Waitlisted libraries will receive construction grants as the funding becomes available through a bond bill or future bond authorization, according to a notice from the MBLC.

Westford ranks 15th out of the 24 provisional recipients.

The nine winners are Dartmouth, Hadley, Kingston, Medford, Norwell, Springfield, Sutton, Wayland and Weymouth. But the awards hinge on town support. The libraries have until Jan. 12 to secure local funding, first from Town Meeting approval and then through a ballot box vote. Voters will be requested to approve a temporary property tax hike beyond the limitations of Proposition 2 1/2, said Rainville. Proposition 2 ½ limits property tax increases to 2.5 percent plus new growth.

Westford’s library building expansion project is expected to cost $21.5 million, including a $4 million cushion to account for cost increases over time. A town bond of $12.3 million would be required by the MBLC. Additional funding of $1.3 million would come from Community Preservation Act funds and private money. It’s not clear where the remaining $100,000 would come from.

The grant is part of the state-funded Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program which helps Massachusetts libraries expand and improve facilities.

Rainville noted that between 2023 and 2024, debt service on other town owned buildings would drop from $7 million to $3 million freeing up taxpayer money for investment elsewhere.

“Our bond rating assumes we’ll be carrying a certain amount of debt and investing it in our town to maintain our infrastructure and amenities,” she said.

The town has a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s.

The library received a $50,000 matching grant for design and planning of the renovation in 2014. The town provided funding of $35,000 and $25,000 in previous years. At the 2016  special Town Meeting voters accepted Rainville’s schematic design which allowed her to apply for the grant.

The library’s current 22,500 square feet would grow to slightly more than 35,000 square feet. The children’s and young adult spaces would be tripled. In a May 2016 presentation, Rainville noted there would be greater emphasis on meeting room space, with two additional meeting rooms on the third floor, several group study areas on the second floor, and a first floor meeting room that will grow to accommodate 130 seats.

“Everything about the new building is about efficiencies, centralized circulation, children’s right inside the door and a meeting room right inside the door,” Rainville said in a video presentation last fall.

The library director acknowledged she has heard resistance to another construction project in town and the possibility of another tax hike. Currently underway is an $8.8 million five-bay fire station at Blakes Hill and Boston roads, and scheduled to start on Sept. 1 is a $7 million renovation of the Roudenbush Community Center building on Main Street. In May, voters approved a ballot box request to permanently raise $3 million in taxes over three years to fund a 6 percent increase in teachers’ salaries.

The stress on seniors living on fixed incomes has been noted by selectmen who, this spring, appointed a committee of residents to explore ways of lightening the tax burden for them.

But Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker took a big picture point of view.

“The Commonwealth’s local public libraries provide individuals of all ages with invaluable resources that they otherwise might not be able to access,” he said. “Our administration is pleased to once again support this important grant program that invests in cities and towns across the commonwealth.”