New Library
Here’s the permanent place for ideas and discussion about the effort to get a larger library.
Here’s the permanent place for ideas and discussion about the effort to get a larger library.
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April 30th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
spend,spend,spend
April 30th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I must say that I rarely go into the current library because its just too cramped and claustrophobic. I’m excited about the prospect of having a larger space for the library.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
You could pay $25 dollars to York and use their library. That would be considerably cheaper than having the town spend 800K on the church building, and then, god knows what to bring it up to current codes, and reconfigure into a library.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Unfortunately, I don’t have the time, nor do I wish to waste the gas to go to York. No, I would like a Library close enough to walk or bike.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
You don’t have to go all the way to York. We joined the Dover library and find it easy to combine trips to the library with trips to the market, taking the kids to school, etc. And, really, Dover is close enough to bike to. And, the cost of belonging there is a lot less than increased amount I’m going to have to pay to heat that cavernous church building, replace the windows, and reinforce the structure to hold the weight of the books.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Thanks, lady jane, for a moment of sanity.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:44 am
There is a reason that nearly every town, and every thriving town has a library. Libraries are important to civic life and to democracy. All over the country library use is surging–having access to information is more important than ever. Fortunately the people of this town have not backed away from civic responsibility and understand the importance of the civic institution of a library to the vitality of a town. They voted resoundingly to pass the library bond last summer and came out and voted again for the purchase of St. Michaels in January.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:27 am
Thank you Molly for that moment of sanity.
As far as combining trips to Dover and the market, etc. I work full time (as do many people), so I only go back into Dover to shop on Sundays. That’s not really even a practical option.
Having a library in the town where I live, and raise my child is important, not only for the locale, but to encourage children to enjoy using the library. Its an imortant componant in supporting literacy. Having to commute to another town’s library makes it seem like more of a chore.
As far as I’m concerned, the time saved and inherent value-add of having a library in town is worth the price of “admission”.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:22 am
I don’t disagree, which is why we love our little library in town. I was only responding to your comment about wasting gas to go to York. Just wanted to point out there are other options, and one can avail themselves of those options AND be sensitive to gas prices/schedules, etc. (And, I’m not sure that every thriving town has a library - many small towns don’t. I grew up in a town without one, and it is a thriving small town. It has one now, about the size of an airplane bathroom.) And, just for the sake of clarity, the Dover library is open evenings and Sundays. Again, I agree with everything you’ve said - we joined the Dover library because my daughter is an avid reader and wanted more than South Berwick has to offer. I understand we are looking at the church as an alternative, and don’t have an issue with it, in fact I VOTED for it if it makes you feel any better. Passing the bond to purchase the church is different than coughing up money to bring the building up to code and maintain it, though. My concerns are the on-going upkeep for that building. I want a larger library, I like reading, I love our town, I see value in children riding their bikes to the downtown library….. I simply have an opinion that is different from yours about how best to fulfill my library dreams. Sanity, to me, means dealing with reality-our reality is we go to the Dover library a lot. You can label that however you want.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:31 am
Speaking of alternatives, there are alternatives to having the work paid for by taxpayer dollars. The “Friends of the South Berwick Library” I’m sure would have a hand in raising funds for a capitol project. Private companies and philanthropic trusts are always looking for worthwhile projects like this. Just look at the Children’s Museum of new Hampshire. They closed a funding gap of nearly $2 million in less than a year to assist with building and moving costs. I’m not saying that our eforts would be on that scale, but philanthopies are out there. All we need to do is ask.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:42 am
The St. Michael’s property offers far more than the church-structure-as-a -potential-library (and surely cost comparisons will be done between rehab/greening and new green construction - I’ll wait to decide which is preferable until we have those figures). But a piece of land that size, running parallel behind our Main Street, connecting to the Elementary School is an amazing opportunity to create a whole new and vital heart of the town. Taking a green approach, making a commitment to dynamic urban rethinking could make the project a grant magnet - the purchase is only a mistake if we don’t fulfill it’s potential. KC, I liked what you had posted earlier about the town needing a heartbeat - I really do think this project has more potential - because of it’s location- than any other type of development. At least it bears investigating…
May 1st, 2008 at 7:44 am
I pay $75 a year to belong to the Portsmouth Library because out library is woefully inadequate. I have been doing research and there are many funding sources to help to reuse old buildings or to build new ones so they are more energy efficient. Portsmouth didn’t reuse an old library but built a new one with energy conservation measures so that although they doubled their space they now use half the fuel to heat the space. I think we can do similar measures for our new library so that it is efficient to run. I agree many people can hop in their car and go off to York, Dover, or Portsmouth but one of points of having a library is that it is for everyone. I plan to retire in South Berwick and know that one day I will not be able to hop in the car and go off to another town; I’m sure that there are many seniors now who do not have access to other towns’ libraries. Also there are families in town who cannot afford computers or internet access and rely on the library in town. Also our present library is not handicap accessible, to me this is intensely unfair. Those who have the most resources and are able can get to the great libraries around us, those without resources have only our library, which because of its tiny size and the building it is in prevents it from meeting even basic standards for a library.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:52 am
mrspeel–The Friends of the library have been gearing up to do a capital campaign for years–I think we need you to join us:)
May 1st, 2008 at 7:58 am
I thought this horse had left the barn. Didn’t the town council already sign a purchase and sale agreement on the St Micheal’s property? Using the property as a library is just one of the ideas for the land. It’s the one mentioned the most because funding the purchase came from money already set aside for a new library building. It remains to be seen if the building will be used for a library or some other community use. SO FAR the purchase of this land costs taxpayers nothing- the cost is already in the budget.
There are groups now forming to investigate the structural viability, capital improvement needs and long term community impact of the St Micheal’s purchase. They need volunteers. Both proponents and opponents bring valuable ideas to the table. We all need to work together to make sure we (as taxpayers)
For the purpose of full discloser, I am a member of the Library Advisory Board and I have been a new library proponent since the town purchased the Day property for that purpose. I may or may not agree with the St Micheal’s purchase, but I’m committed to helping South Berwick move forward…responsibly.
I like this town. I like my neighbors and the friends that I’ve made over the past dozen years living here. I choose to raise my family here. If you feel the same way about South Berwick, I challenge you to do more then grumble…volunteer your time. It’s easy to complain- it’s much harder to compromise.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:17 am
Great. Who do I contact about the group(s) forming to investigate the viability/capital improvements/community impact?
May 1st, 2008 at 10:18 am
Do not forget the new roof also!!! Total project cost??????????? Much more then donations will ever cover!
May 1st, 2008 at 11:25 am
The best way would be to go to the Friends of the Library web site and use the email on the Get Involved page to get on the mailing list to hear about meetings. http://friendsofsouthberwicklibrary.org
May 1st, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I guess I’m confused. Is this the group Brian Dowd alluded to that was studying the viability, etc?
May 1st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
The Friends is the point for communication for everyone who is interested in the library so that’s a good place to start.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Molly, I will look into joining the friends of the library. If I can fit it in, I will.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
oh my god. JaneCF….you’re talking about new construction? If the church, whose purchase now seems to be a forgone conclusion, is owned by the town and not used….we have a complete white elephant on our hands.
Look…..how houses were sold in this town over the past four years? Anyone know? If it was two hundred, the statistics indicate that over 80% of these homes have adjustable mortgages on them. Approximately 50% of that group more than likely have Options ARMS loans on them. Now currently, one in every ten mortgages is delinquent. So, now you have a number of how many households in the town are more than likely already in trouble — before we start talking tax increase and paying for heating oil.
This town desperately, desperately needs some serious — grounded in reality — financial thinking. Pay increases, church purchases….tax increases for this. Its nuts.
Here’s a tidbit. I’ve got neighbors who originally put their house on the market for 500K last year. It sold the other day….for something in the 390’s. That’s the kind of cut in property values this town is already seeing. Up the tax rate, cause a wave of foreclosures, and we’ll be grateful for just a 20% cut in property values over the next year.
What we need to do is sit down, and figure out just what the town AND ITS TAXPAYERS’ situations really are…….
I love libraries. I worked my way thru college stacking books in the university library….but you’re talking here about families losing their houses!
May 1st, 2008 at 3:29 pm
here’s two minutes of research….approximately 211 homes sold in this town from the first quarter of 2006 thru the end of 2007….two years of the problematic years.
that means, if 80% are adjustable, there are 168 potentially problematic situations in this town. And, using national averages, where one in ten is delinquent, we have 16 families hanging on by the skin of their teeth now.
that’s just home sales in two of the past three years. that’s not counting people who went out and refi’d and signed bad mortgage deals for the hot intro rate. That’s not counting folks who “home-equitied” away their equity and are now in trouble with those loans.
WE NEED TO WAKE UP!!!!! We need some serious financial planning. I’m all for raises for people if we could afford it, but the Town Council has to realize they may be putting people out of their homes with their actions. I love libraries, but, are we going to put people out of their homes so someone can walk to a new library, as opposed to feeling claustrophic in the old one? You want a family to lose their house for this? Your comfort is worth this?????
May 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
So let me get this straight.
These people did not do their own strategic financial planning, and somehow everyone else is at fault?
Some one bought a house they could barely afford, and now that their rates go up we’re all at fault if they can’t make their payments?
Here’s another thought, by the house you can afford!
May 1st, 2008 at 3:42 pm
ah, yeah, anonymous….that horse has left the barn. problem is…unless we take this situation in hand, we’re — those of us who are insanely responsible — we’re going to be hurt. we’re going to see our housing values drop. we’re going to end up paying for the maintenance of houses foreclosed on (banks aren’t great at this after they take possession). And we’re going to have a town in deep financial trouble.
So yeah, its time for the grown ups.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
KC, do you drink a lot of coffee?
May 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Your dire predictions of people losing homes over good decisions based on long range considerations is just a tad sever.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:00 pm
No, i’m just getting really depressed about this. we’ve got people here living in a fantasy land about what’s going on. Unfortunately, I find myself stuck on their bus….so whatever happens to this town, happens to me. And right now, we’re heading directly, directly towards the cliff. there are moments when this — the sheer ignorance of the real economics in play and the mechanics — makes me crazy.
this isn’t all something just happening on TV…its happening to our neighbors.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Bill — i think….i think the best thing this town could do is find 50K in the budget and hire an economics teacher for the high school, one who is willing to teach some evening classes for the adults. No offense, but what I am saying is not severe at all. Not if you really understand what is going on and follow it all closely.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
KC, with benefits, a good economics teacher would cost more than $50k.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
well that’s another thing…benefits packages. Talk about a luxury bennie there.
…..things aren’t as bad as I say, right? well today, the teamsters notified union members that their pension fund is in deficiency. a particularly poignant part of their announcement says,
“Effective March 1, 2008, the NPF is not permitted to pay lump sum benefits (or any other payment in excess of the monthly amount paid under a single life annuity – including new level income options) while it is in critical status.” ….For Participants who die on or after January 2008, a Lump Sum Death Benefit is no longer payable. ”
How would you like to be one of the widows or widowers depending on that money?
…what you and everyone else saying “things aren’t so bad”, aren’t seeing is that as these mortgages explode, derivatives are exploding….and banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and brokerages are all riding closer to insolvency.
There are deep deep problems, and those who are oblivious are the ones who are going to be hurt the most. That’s what our town is oblivious.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Let’s see: What qualified teacher would work at a sub-market salary, with no benefits? Do you have any idea what market salaries and benefits are for teachers? (probably not). Fact is, SAD 35 pay is low. We have lost many, many good teachers to NH schools over pay.
But, Oh I forgot, the real economy is tanking, so that teacher would be lucky to have any paying job………..
whatever……………………………….
May 1st, 2008 at 4:32 pm
by the way, the stock market went up over 2% again today. What sheep!!!
May 1st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
yes, it did. due to the “strong dollar”….up from 72.65 to all of a whopping 73.28.
and constant hyping from the financial media who have now morphed Bernanke’s comments from not indicating a pause in any way, to their intrepretion, the Fed is on pause.
bill, its time to get real. and yes, there are probably any number of laid off executives who’d be more than happy to take a teaching job….
evaluating the employment situation on what was a year or two ago is irrelevant now. Unemployment is on the rise and going to get worse as we go thru the year. Tomorrow morning is the last “free ride” for the Bureau of Labor stats…..this month is the month they add the biggest adjustment in the birth/death numbers…..so they could “surprise” on the upside with a loss of only 50K jobs……
and the market will ramp up on the “good news” tomorrow.
but the stock market is not the real economy. we have an administration that has consistently equated stock market success with real economic success — and all efforts for eight years have been put behind keeping it up. I’m not joking…..get up tomorrow morning at about 5 am, and watch them “prime the pump” — no matter where the futures are at that time, they — unless the news is absolutely horrendous — turn positive……..if its horrendous, they just rise to “slightly lower indicating the possibility of a down open.”
and that’s how we got where we are today — with a stock market going up and the economy slowly tanking……
but hey, whatever.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:56 pm
So the thousands of professional investors that make it their complete business to understand and invest money on Wall Street and elsewhere: they are all mis-informed and mis-managing trillions of dollars? No one knows that but KC on the blog?
May 1st, 2008 at 5:04 pm
How bout them Red Sox?
May 1st, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hey thats an idea we should get the Redsox to invest in the new library.
Nothin like pokin a bear with a short stick!
May 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
okay, guys, whatever. you could find out that your “financial professionals’ feel exactly the same way I do……by asking a few pointed questions…but whatever.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I read a lot of comments about how much a library would cost the town’s residents… doesn’t anyone recognize what incredible VALUE a good library is to its users? I use the Eliot, South Berwick and Springvale libraries. In the past 10 years I certainly have checked out thousands of books, movies and audiobooks, and my kids have attended lots of their free events and programs. I’ve been able to get books from other libraries through the interlibrary loan system, and we’ve used library passes for free or reduced admission to several area museums. I think libraries have saved me many hundreds of dollars each year. For any family, whether they are struggling with an adjustable mortgage or not, a library is by far the best way to save money that I can think of.
If only the new library project in recent years had not been so deliberately derailed, we’d have a bigger, better library right now and be saving the gas it takes to drive to the others.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:49 pm
If the U.S. is going to tank - and I’m not saying it isn’t, we have to use this time very carefully. If there is grant money out there to make major improvements to our town - to the things we all share, then I’m for doing it. Think of it as stocking the bomb shelter if that helps. I make my living on happy endings, so I don’t like going to the dark side, but I do understand that there is plenty to be worried about. In fact, I wish the industry our town could attract would be sustainble farming. Local food.
The harder the times, the bigger role a good library will play. It always does.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I don’t think I’ve seen anyone on this board say a library would not add value; does not contribute to our society; would not be a benefit to young and old, rich and poor. What I’ve seen is that while some people see the VALUE in a library, they are also looking at the COST of renovating/tearing down/rebuilding/refurbishing/maintaining whatever building is finally decided on. I’ve also seen others throw the COST concerns out the window and only look at VALUE. Everyone needs to be looking at it from both sides, just like you would weigh a decision between which car to buy, which washing machine to purchase or which vacation to splurge on.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Anonymous was me again. I keep forgetting to put my name in.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I agree with you fully Ladyjane(sometimes anonymous). I think we should look very carefully at the cost of the library. I think we will be able to get grant money and donations to cover the cost build/rehab a library. We need to look at every aspect of how to build/rehab a library so that future operating costs are as low as possible. Fortunately there are private foundations will give for libraries because they see them as important both as cultural institutions but also important for quality of life factors that help stimulate economic development.
I do think the economy is very scary right now and it is going to get worse but I don’t think we can not plan for a future. It would be like those cults who declare that the world is going to end on a certain day and all their members give away all their money and belongings. And then the day comes, the world doesn’t end, and then there they are looking at each other saying “oops, now what?”
I’m right there with you JaneCF on the growing of food. I have read some very scary predictions about the food supply in a post peak oil world. We are probably better off than most places in the country to produce our own food supply here: we have land, water, sun, and a relatively mild climate.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:41 pm
nobody is talking about the end of time…simply a very hard economic climate for the next two or three years….which, given what has gone on for this country the last twenty years, seems virtually inconceivable to most people.
its sad that our news media has been so manipulated to the point that anyone saying that the economic situation is not going to turn around in the next six weeks is pictured as someone sitting in their basement with a tin foil hat on.
to the people saying I’m forecasting doom and gloom…i’d say…ask your “financial professional” why the market is going up while…..
oil over $110 a barrel
declining retail sales
declining employment
declining purchasing power of the dollar cratering from .85 to .72 in the past six months
all business economic statistics — GDP, ISM, CPI, PPS — all showing horrendous stats getting worse
GE earnings disappointing
thousands being laid off from Citicorp, Bank of America, Sun Micro, Merck, Amgen, the New York Times, Merrill Lynch, GE, Sandisk….just in the last couple of weeks alone
massive losses being recorded by Citicorp, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, MBIA, Ambec, Credit Suisse….
big pension funds notifying participants they can’t make good and pay out?
hank paulson stuttering so bad when he appears on bloomberg he can hardly choke out the “good news” about the “strong dollar”
what’s going on now defies all laws of economics. all of them. but it will get you past the summer into the fall, and maybe…maybe to 1.20.09 when it will be someone else’s problem…..
the reality is that our media, like much of our society is run by “specialists”….people who majored in communications. they don’t know finance, they don’t know economics. a press release shows up from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they read it on air. No coherent thought, no basic knowledge to question……..
the result is, the government, or Merrill Lynch or any financial analyst showing up on CNBC, all fully invested in everyone believing that things are turning around, have their propaganda — and it is propaganda — put out unquestioned. meanwhile folks who do understand the minutae of the financial markets…we’re …let’s say…we’re quaking in our boots.
and watching the town walk blindly into this mess, spending money thinking things are all going to be fine in a matter of months………
well, i’m a democrat…..i actually feel for the people who are going to be hurt by all of this. and I would like the town to have a library. I just don’t want it built on the blood of 50 families or more who lose their homes over the next year to make it possible.
(by the way, for the skeptics, you can — with Ben B’s cash, which is endless — pump the market’s higher to generate good feelings by simply buying the futures on the indices….which our government, it seems, has been doing to make us feel better for the past year at about starting very early pre-market every morning for the past couple of years. go ahead, watch the futures starting at about five tomorrow morning. ho ho ho, its magic, you know…some of we traders have been riding this trade for the past two years. all you have to do is be cynical and get up early. but, bottomline, this isn’t real growth, this is even more imaginary than the internet bubble when “eyeballs” were more important than earnings.)
May 1st, 2008 at 8:46 pm
The town budget is over by about $485,000
There are approximately 2700 houses in South Berwick.
$485,000/2700=$179.63 additional tax per house per year
$179.63/12=$14.97 per house per month
And that isn’t counting property taxes on businesses
If people are goning to go bankrupt because of an additional $179.63 a year, then they have bigger problems than you can imagine.
I agree the town budget needs to be cut, but the school budget is going to be the biggest problem.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:31 pm
that calculation is wrong. on my house, we’ll see an increase of 400 bucks if we see a 15% increase in property taxes. i don’t think you realize that many families are now living paycheck to paycheck >> the latest statistics say that most families have less than one month’s advance payments in savings……the actual savings rate for the country in total is negative, and the number is going lower every month.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:46 pm
You know, i think its time for the “haves” to wake up and realize that the “have nots” have nothing left to give. 400-500 bucks isn’t much to some of us, but to others, its going to be the difference between a tank of heating oil, or a tankful of gas to get to work or some food other than pasta this fall.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Yes, I think Anonymous’s calculations are wrong also, because the cost isn’t divided evenly by the number of households. Isn’t it assessed by what your house is valued at by the town? So, lesser valued homes will show less of an increase than higher valued homes.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:22 pm
KC, You must own an expensive house. No one has time to read your lengthy posts. I hope you enjoy them.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:25 pm
i’m just hoping to wake a few folks up before its too late. At least in time to save/protect whatever retirement funds they have. And I have lots of time to write as i trade currencies and watch the markets 24/7 more or less.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Too late for what? You send so much time in front of a screen. Maybe sleep would do you good. Coffee?
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
The problem with the 15% estimation is that the town is talking 7%
The other increase will be with the schools.
The total combined is around 18% right now, which means the school is talking about an 11% increase.
All I am saying is that we need to look at the school taxes more closely.
It seems that everyone only wants to focus on the town budget.
So KC your increase due to the town’s portion would be under $200
The other part would be due to the increase in school costs.
Lets focus on both, not just expect all the cuts to come from the town.
The town still has alot of work to get under the LD1 cap, but the school apparently has no constraint?
Yes, I know the actual cost per household will differ due to the valuation of the houses, but I don’t think you’ll see too many houses where the taxes would go up less that $100 dollars for the town’s portion.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:55 am
Bill,
If KC owns a house that the town is valued at $200,000 his yearly taxes would be approximately $2800 based on a mil rate of $14 per thousand.
That is actually lower than the current mil rate, but I rounded down.
With an increase of town spending being around a 7% increase in property taxes, and the schools portion representing another 11% increase in property taxes, his taxes would go up 18% which is around $469.00, so he is actually hitting low in his estimates.
That is not an overly high valuation for houses in this town after the last valuation.
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 am
wow! lets send the water out for testing, there is a problem , but all this gloom and doom will never help anyone . Try to do something positive!
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
john….there’s no point in ignoring the elephant standing in the center of the room…..if you do, in a week or two, you’re standing in…XXXX.
unfortunately, ignoring the situation is what got us to this place. i’m only amazed that somewhere along the line, the town didn’t get scammed by JP Morgan with an interest rate swap…..then we could not just have a terminally low reserve fund we could owe a million or two on it.
in this sense, its a good thing that we’re a small town with not much money.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Remember my idea a couple months ago of giving your Bush Economic Stimulus Bonus check to the town? I think they’re going to get most of it anyway!
I think that we can all agree that there are uncertain economic times ahead for our town, state and nation. This conversation, regarding a new library, has gotten way off track. Maybe it isn’t the ideal time for the town to purchase the St Michael’s property, but it has. We need to work together to make this purchase a valuable asset instead of a moneypit.
There is room at the discussion table for dreamers, pragmatists, alarmists and nay-sayers…..in fact we need as many diverse voices as possible to be heard by the town council. In this town, the council is the decider. It isn’t enough to voice your opinions on this blog…you need to make sure our elected officials hear your concerns. I encourage everyone to go to council meetings (be sure to ask permission to speak on scheduled items during the public part of the proceedure), attend Town Meeting and join one of the many comittees working on this project.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Great point. I ask again, what committees are working on this project? I would love to join one. Do you know who I would contact?
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Ladyjane-
The Library Advisory Board has openings and I think the Building Comittee also has spots available. These are both Town Council Appointments. There is also the Friends of the Library and it’s sub-comittees. I’ve heard about a sustainability group and a green group that are meeting.
As Molly mentioned earlier in this string, the Friends of the Library is a good place to start….I think they may now have a website with some of that contact information available.
May 4th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The Friends of the South Berwick Library considers all library supporters to be members. We may not know who you are, though, so please go to our (evolving) website and under ‘Get Involved’, link to an email for Patti Mitchem, current president of the Friends. If you will give us your name, email, phone and address, and areas of interest we will add you to the Friends list and send you emails and occasional mailings. If you want to help with a specific project, or get in touch with a specific group, we will be happy to give you information.
Patti Mitchem
May 4th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
http://friendsofsouthberwicklibrary.org
May 4th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Friends update on St. Michael’s, May 4th (text of email sent out to Friends of the Library)
I’m sure you all would like to know what is happening with the St. Michael’s Church property! This is what I know:
• The closing has been rescheduled to sometime this week.
• The Council has scheduled a workshop on May 19th about the library, with members of various committees, and the librarian.
• A group of 20 some citizens with long standing interest in building a new library met last week to do some brainstorming. Attending were past and present members of Town committees, the librarians, a few Friends of the Library. Lots of ideas were floated and questions were raised.
Major points:
1) Libraries as civic and cultural space.
1) Too many unknowns about the church building to conclude at this time if it is more feasible to renovate as opposed to building new. A major consideration in favor of renovation is availability of grants for adaptive reuse of existing downtown buildings.
2) General consensus on overall site planning as a necessary first step toward integration of site reuse within the neighborhood and downtown and school areas.
3) Importance of looking at long-term (25+ years) as well as short-term implications.
4) There was a consensus that there needs to be a significant amount of advocacy for the project. There needs to be a steady stream of reliable information presented not only to the Town Council and the Planning Board, but also to the community as a whole. It needs to be an inclusive process, not one just driven by a small group of citizens.
5) A group such of this can greatly assist the Council and Planning Board by doing the legwork of research and grant applications.
The group will meet again on May 13th and is working out a name and ways to communicate. In the meantime, if you want to participate and/or would like more information, contact the Friends through me: 384-2195 or pmitchem@comcast.net.
Patti Mitchem
Friends of the South Berwick Library
The Friends website is operational if not complete, but do check it out. We will update it with news regarding the St. Michael’s property as well as specific ‘Friends’ news.
http://www.friendsofsouthberwicklibrary.org
Upcoming for the Friends:
Mailing Party for Annual Appeal: Thursday May 8th, Town Hall, 10-12, 1-3
Book Sale will be held again on May 10th. Most of the hard work is done but help is needed!
Annual Meeting: tentatively scheduled for May 21st, hopefully at St. Michael’s.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
1) Too many unknowns about the church building to conclude at this time if it is more feasible to renovate as opposed to building new. A major consideration in favor of renovation is availability of grants for adaptive reuse of existing downtown buildings….
so they have no idea how much its going to cost to rehab? No one has looked into this or developed any estimates?????????????????????????
there are no words to adequately express how irresponsible this all is. there are no words.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Report on May 19, 2008 Town Council workshop re: St. Michael’s and library
The ‘Big Picture Action Team’ met Monday, May 19, 2008, in a workshop organized by the Interim Town Manager and the Town Council. Present were members of the Library Advisory Board, South Berwick Public Library staff, Town Building Committee, Historic District Commission, and Friends of the South Berwick Library. The stated purpose was to discuss the use of the St. Michael’s Church property as a library site. The workshop was assisted by a facilitator.
The group discussed many options and gained consensus on the following:
1) established the St. Michael’s Church property as the site for the library,
2) endorsed the importance of input from a broad cross-section of townspeople,
3) discussed the parameters of the overall site,
4) assigned tasks in order to gather the necessary information to proceed in the short term:
a) investigate grant possibilities,
b) investigate requirements for interim use of the church building as a library,
5) set June 30, 2008 as the next meeting date.
In summary, the intent is to hold an open and public process, whereby the proper questions will be asked and answered in order to:
1) use the St. Michael’s property to its best potential,
2) gain a library that will truly serve the residents of South Berwick,
3) to accomplish both of the above in a fiscally responsible manner.
Submitted by Patti Mitchem, for those present at the workshop.
June 7th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Bill,
I read KCs posts and find them to be much more sensible than yours.
KC, I like the way you think. And I am a have-not. Yup, I live paycheck to paycheck and always have to budget that tax bill in December. It’s not easy. I do it. I’m worried about this year.
I think the elitist attitude about having this Library in town is arrogant. Especially since it’s going into St. Michaels. I have a membership at the Dover Library, which is the best around here anyway IMO. Stop making all of us pay for this thing. I think some of us “have-nots” need to start reclaiming our town.
I know this is an old argument, but I just discovered this great blog!
Thanks to whoever created it!
June 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Not everyone in South Berwick has a way to travel to other towns to use their library. The absence of an adequate library in our own town creates an exclusionary situation for those who can’t easily travel elsewhere.
June 7th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I’d love to know how many that really is. We are all guilty of saying things like “there are a lot of people who…”, “I know several people who…..”, “Not everyone can travel….” Well, let them step up to the plate and speak up for themselves. There are people who can’t use the library in THIS town, but who CAN travel to Dover or Portsmouth where they are handicapped accessible. So, that is no reason to defend a new library in my opinion. (Just to avoid being called cynical or anything else, let me say again, I want a new library, we love the library, we use it all the time, we love the volunteers there, the librarians, and even love the building.) I just feel I’m realistic - I don’t support the library in St. Michael’s where along with the books in the high-ceilinged building will be all of our tax dollars floating around trying to heat it, and now is not the right time to continue the project, in my opinion.
June 7th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
LJ,
The planning has gone on for years. The question of using other Town libraries was settled years ago. I say, move ahead, and finish it.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Internet
August 19th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Why is Mass trying to runour town?
August 19th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Not sure what you mean.