Monday, February 9, 2009

Why consider a new library now?

Several people over the last week have asked me essentially the same question:
"Why are the trustees even considering a new library building in the current economic recession and strained municipal budget?"

The answer to this concern is that the trustees have no intention of asking the Town of Upton for significant capital funding in the next six months, the next year, or likely in the next several years.

What we want is to have a plan in place, a project that is "shovel ready" that could be started when funding does become a possibility.

The process to go from "we need a new library" to "here is a description of the project that could be presented to a Town Meeting" takes several years. Our previous grant application was started in 2004, and submitted in 2006.

Securing a building site and having a detailed floorplan with cost estimates are requirements for any grant applications, and for the Friends of the Library to start fundraising.

For a successful building project, we need to develop our plan now, and then be ready to take advantage of funding sources in the future. If we wait until funding is available before starting the plan, the opportunity will be lost.

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