Library Building Project

(A huge thanks to Town Accountant, Angelica Desroches, for her cogent explanations!)

The Library Trustees and the Library Building Steering Committee (LBSC) have voted on several measures to keep building costs low.

First, $5 million dollars were saved by deciding to building new, rather than renovating and adding onto the Carnegie Library. A renovation/addition would have required moving the existing building within the lot, purchasing and demolishing the adjacent multi-family house, dealing with asbestos, and re-digging the foundation.

Design decisions that would lead to significant cost savings on the new building include:

• Decreasing the height of the building. Instead of matching the height of the adjacent Crocker building, the height of the new library building will be several feet lower. A higher roof on the building's second floor community room will ensure that that space feels proportional, but other parts of the building will feature a lower roof. This will save materials costs during the construction phase and energy costs over the long term. A 3-4 foot tall parapet will surround the roof, maintaining the historic character of Avenue A and hiding the rooftop mechanical systems from view.

   

• Opting not to include a basement. Instead of incorporating a basement, which would cost roughly $2 million dollars, the Trustees and the LBSC instead opted to incorporate sufficient storage space on the first and second floors and to locate the majority of the building's mechanical systems on the roof. 

   

• Using a steel structure rather than mass timber. The Trustees and LBSC opted to use traditional steel structures at a 20-25% cost savings over mass timber.

• Opting for an air to water heat pump hydronic system instead of geothermal. By opting for an air to water hydronic system, the building will be all electric and meet specialized stretch code, allowing for Montague to access additional funds through the Green Library Incentive, but without spending tens of thousands of dollars on a geothermal system.

• The LBSC intends to meet the state's Green Library Incentive by opting for specialized stretch code. Resilient building practices will be incorporated whenever possible.
• The new building will be all-electric and be heated and cooled by and air to water hydronic heat pump with an electric boiler back up.
• A solar array will be incorporated on the building's roof and infrastructure for a generator has been included so that the building can be used as a heating or cooling center, even when the power goes out.
• Low carbon concrete will be used throughout.
• Triple-pane windows will be incorporated throughout to reduce energy costs.

Size comparison: 

At 20,779 square feet, Montague's new building would be 78% the gross square footage of the new Greenfield Public Library. Library size doesn't scale up exactly with population, because there are a number of different types of library spaces each with different minimums and different usage needs: the trend you'll see when looking at the big picture is that libraries serving smaller populations have higher square-footage-per-person than libraries serving larger populations. Greenfield's new library (sized for its city population of 17,664) has 1.52 square feet per person (SF/P). Erving's new library (sized for its town population of 1,703) has 4.89 SF/P.

Montague's new building is designed as a main branch, primarily to serve the Turners Falls’ and Montague City’s population of about 5,320, though it also provides many unique services and spaces that benefit our entire town of 8,482. The building has 3.91 SF/P (for Turners Falls & Montague City) or 2.45 SF/P (for the entire town).

Meanwhile, the Carnegie, with only 2,194 SF of usable space -- the public is not allowed upstairs by order of the town Building Inspector due to ADA requirements, and is only allowed downstairs for the monthly Friends of the Library booksale, meaning the public can only use 1/3 of the building -- has 0.41 SF/P (for Turners Falls & Montague City) or 0.26 SF/P (for the entire town), which is inadequate to meet the needs of the community.

 

Cost comparison:

Erving and Greenfield's libraries were both cost estimated in 2018. We've experienced 30% inflation over the past eight years. Additionally, Montague's new building is estimated in 2027 dollars (multiplying materials costs by another 5.25% to anticipate cost escalation between estimation and construction). In 2027 dollars, Erving's new library cost the town $4.3M (about $2,500/person), and Greenfield's new library cost the city $15.8M (about $900/person). Montague's new library would cost the town $12.4M (about $1,460/person)

In January 2025, Montague was awarded funding by the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP). This competitive state grant will pay for a substantial portion of eligible project costs to construct a new main library at 38 Avenue A. The Millers Falls and Montague Center Branches will not be impacted by this project.

The Library Building Steering Committee (LBSC), consisting of town staff, library trustees, and Montague residents, facilitated the design phase of the building project. We hired Owners Project Manager firm, Downes Construction, to help us with the process and design firm, Schwartz/Silver to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether to add onto the Carnegie or build new and to design a project for the selected site.

Schwartz/Silver's feasibility study determined that constructing a new main library at 38 Avenue A would be more advantageous and cost effective (by $5 million dollars) than adding onto the Carnegie. Per their recommendation, the Library Building Steering Committee and the Library Trustees each unanimously voted to move forward with building a new library. Over the fall, the LBSC worked with Downes and Schwartz/Silver to come up with a design that will best suit the Montague community. We hosted three community events to solicit feedback and submitted our design to the state in December, 2025. 

Since the new year, the state gave us the green light for the project with the request that we make one small change to the design: adding two half-window walls to the second floor to improve sightlines. After that change was incorporated, our architects hired an estimation firm to estimate the cost of the project. This cost was broken down into eligible and ineligible costs by Downes Construction and the state. On March 5th, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners approved $11.3 million dollars to be spent on the project, including $328,731 for the Green Library Incentive. With a total project cost of $23.7 million dollars, this means that the town of Montague would need to contribute $12.4 million dollars through a debt exclusion and fundraising. 

• In 1915 the Trustees of the Carnegie Library realized their new building wasn’t big enough to serve the community. Since then, plans for expansion have been unsuccessful. We have been making do with a too-small, inaccessible space for over 100 years.
• Through the state‘s library construction program, we have the chance to construct a new library to meet the evolving needs of the patrons we serve. This opportunity will not come again for another 5 to 8 years.

Specific building issues include:

Inaccessibility: 

• Though there is a wheelchair ramp, many portions of the library are not accessible to those using a wheelchair or walker, including the whole second floor, the basement where the Friends of the Library hold their book sales, the public restroom, as well as the fiction, non-fiction, DVD, audiobook, or local history collections. 

Lack of adequate collection space:

• For every item that is purchased for the Carnegie Library, one must be removed.
• Though library staff take pride in purchasing a diverse and varied collection of materials to suit the many interests and needs of the community, we are regularly forced to get rid of items that are only a few years old to make room for new items.
• A lack of room also means that we do not have space for collections that the community has expressed much interest in, including more graphic novels, manga, indigenous history, etc.

Lack of quiet or comfortable study space:

• With room for only two armchairs in Carnegie’s reading room, there’s little space for patrons to sit and read or work.
• The reading room must also fit the libraries’ public computers, fax/copy machine, non-fiction collections, magazines, and newspapers in a space under 300sq/ft.
• It is difficult, if not impossible, to navigate that space in a walker, wheelchair, or with a stroller.
• The space is so cramped that it is physically difficult and/or uncomfortable for library staff to assist patrons with computer questions.

Lack of effective staff space: 

• There is no non-public staff space on the first floor, so books and other materials must be carried either up or down a flight of stairs to be processed for circulation.
• Staff work in cramped conditions behind the circulation desk, and most do not have workstations of their own.
• There’s a disconnect between those working with the public on the first floor and those on the other floors. The Library Director, Library Technician, and Youth Services Librarian can’t see or hear if there’s a line at the desk, if a patron needs in-depth assistance, or if a patron is hassling a staff member. This could potentially lead to dangerous situations.

Inadequate children’s and teen spaces:

• The children’s room is very small. There is no space for adult chairs, which would allow caregivers to read to their children.
• There is no space for children’s computers.
• There is also limited space for children to meet other children to foster play and healthy socialization skills nor is there space for parents to meet other parents and build community.
• The teen collection is very small and located close to the children’s picture books, making for a patently uncool teen hang spot.

Inadequate programming and meeting space: 

• Though the second floor of the library previously provided program space, we are no longer allowed to use it, by law, because it is inaccessible.
• There is limited space and inadequate technology to support small meetings or large programs.

Inefficient and non-resilient systems: 

• While the quality of the air at the Carnegie was improved by the installation of an ERV some years ago, the building’s systems are not efficient.
• The building is heated and cooled with costly oil and electric systems that leave parts of the library boiling and other parts freezing. This makes for a space that is uncomfortable to work or spend time in.
• Inefficient systems also use more energy than they should and cost extra tax-payer dollars to run.
• As the library is relied upon more and more heavily to serve as a cooling or warming center during periods of extreme weather, the ability of the building to respond to these weather extremes becomes more important. 

The Carnegie Library used to have a programming space, but we can no longer use, per ADA guidelines, it because it is inaccessible. Since losing that space, most children’s programs must be held offsite, and our children’s circulation subsequently decreased by 10%. That’s 10% fewer books read to or read by Montague children. We need a facility that’s large enough to fit our programs, where families and patrons of all ages can attend said programs AND borrow materials during the same visit. We sized a programming space in the new library accordingly. 

Both town administration and local business owners have expressed appreciation that this community space would also be open to the public for booking and would be located in the heart of our downtown business district. Proximity to local restaurants and retail stores means that those attending events in the libraries’ new programming space are likely to stop by a local restaurant for dinner, grab ice cream, or stop into one of the neighborhood’s amazing shops after they attend an event. 

As our standing-room-only event at the Senior Center showed: there’s ample need for more space for public meetings, gatherings, and events in Montague. 

• The total project is going to cost $23.70 million. Montague will be responsible for $12,417,613. Adjusted for inflation, the cost to the town will be less than the cost of the DPW facility.

   

$11,286,440 or 47.6% of the projected total project cost of $23.70 million. This figure includes $328,731 for the Green Library Incentive program.

We are working with town administration on finding a clear figure for this. It's difficult to compare our projects with other recent library projects, since our building is going to have a solar array that will substantially offset our energy costs. We don't want to just make figures up.

For staffing, we know that we will need to hire one, part-time position to staff the children's room on evenings and Saturdays. For years, the libraries have also been asking for a Adult Services Coordinator position, which would better support adult services, adult programs, and local research.

Yes. There are three years between this project’s approval and the opening of a new building. If this project passes, then the attention of the Library Trustees and the Friends of the Montague Public Libraries will turn to fundraising. Any funds raised during that time will decrease the share that taxpayers would have to contribute. Additionally, there have been conversations about how renting the community space and outdoor terrace for commercial purposes on Sundays and/or evenings could offset the costs of the new building’s operations.

Since other town debt will be paid off around the same time that this project would need town funding, there will be a more limited impact on taxes. For the average taxpayer, the project will cost about $3 per week.

Here's a breakdown of annual costs by property type:

​Commercial​
$81 per $100,000 of value

Post-Award Timeline

January 2025: Library Commissioners voted to approve immediately funded and waitlisted grant recipients; MBLC contracts executed with grant recipients

Montague was one of just seven towns across the Commonwealth to receive immediate project funding!

January 2025 - December 2025: Planning & Design for Standard Grant recipients

Soon after receiving award notification, the Library Building Steering Committee (LBSC) was formed and approved by the Selectboard to oversee the library building project. 

Per state recommendations, the committee is made up of a combination of Library Trustees, town staff, and Montague residents and includes: Will Quale, Lydia ievans, Tricia Perham, Chris Nolan-Zeller, Caitlin Kelley, David Dempsey, Ariel Elan, Dorinda Bell-Upp, and Josh Lively.

After town admin executed the grant contract with the Commonwealth, the Library Building Steering Committee put together a request for qualifications for an Owners Project Manager (OPM).

Our selected firm, Downes Construction, assisted the Library Building Steering Committee with searching for and selecting an architectural firm to design the project.

The LBSC hired Schwartz/Silver as our design firm. Our project leads investigated the Carnegie Library, its grounds, and adjacent properties as well as the site at 38 Avenue A to determine the cost and feasibility of building on each site. Their findings and recommendations were presented to the trustees and the community. 

Ultimately, the Library Building Steering Committee chose to build new based on that site's ability to support the size of a building that we need and the fact that it's much more financially viable for the taxpayers.  They made that recommendation to the Library Trustees, who unanimously voted to approve the site. 

Next, the architects put together several designs for the community to review. There was ample opportunity for residents to weigh in on the project and feedback was incorporated into the the final design.

After the designs were completed, we sent it off to the state for review.

December 2025 - January 2026: Independent review of MPLCP Level of Design

The state reviewed and ultimately approved our designs by their guidelines.

February 2026: Estimates based on MPLCP Level of Design; Construction phase grant awards calculated

March 2026: Commissioners vote to approve Construction phase grant awards

March - June 2026: Certified votes for local approvals and appropriations for Construction phase local funding

After the town learns how much the library building project will cost and how much of that cost the state will cover, then town administration will estimate the amount of money that the town is responsible for and needs to appropriate. 

May 2026: The town will put a debt exclusion ballot initiative article before town meeting members. Should the initiative pass, then the project would be placed on the ballot to be voted on by all Montague voters on Wednesday, June 24th.

Then, if the project passes:

June 2026 - June 2027: Design work from completion of schematic design through construction documents

July 2027: Bidding

August 2027: Construction contracts for projects (usually 16 to 24 months)

• The Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP) is a grant program managed by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). It was first funded by a state bond authorization in 1987. Since then, the MPLCP has helped build 62 new library buildings and 169 addition, renovation, and conversion projects.
• Grants are awarded based on the needs of the community, the current state of the library being added to or replaced, and the local economy. 

• One of the many reasons that the Library Building Steering Committee hired Schwartz/Silver Architects is because of their ability to design a new building that looks like it's been a part of the neighborhood for a century.
• Our team of architects crafted a design that fits in seamlessly with the Avenue A streetscape. The building will be two stories, about as tall as the neighboring Crocker building, and features a brick facade with granite banding, granite details, brick parapet,and windows inspired by those of 113 Avenue A.
• On the back of the building, a large second floor roof garden will look out over the Connecticut River.
• You can find the new building's floorplans and renderings here: https://montaguepubliclibraries.org/about/library-building-project/library-building-project-building-renderings-and-floor-plans

A new library would be fully accessible and include:

• A large community room for library programs that community groups can book (even after hours).
• A second-floor garden terrace that can be used for programs, reading, working, and relaxing.
• A children's room with space for play, reading with caregivers, and collections for children of all ages.
• A tween nook within the children's room with separate collections and computers.
• A children's program room for early literacy programming and activities of all kinds. This room will also be used for craft programs for teens and adults.
• A separate teen area that teens actually want to hang out in that is connected by a window to the children's room for supervision
• Three quiet study rooms for solo or small group work with all the technology needed to take video calls, etc.
• A cozy reading room with comfortable chairs, tables, and plenty of outlets
• An accessible local history room, where photos, documents and artifacts can be safely preserved and displayed and that can also serve as a meeting or program space
• Staff workspaces are centralized to improve efficiency and ease of patron access to various different kinds of services, from in-depth research help, technology assistance, reader’s advisory, circulation assistance, and more!

• If the project passes in spring 2026, the new building will be located at 38 Avenue A, which is the lot across from town hall, next to the Discovery Center, and across from Country Creemee. A Cumberland Farms previously occupied the lot but was closed decades ago and demolished in the summer of 2023. Between 1872 and 1968, it was the site of the Grand Trunk Hotel.
• 38 Avenue A is owned by the town and overseen by the town’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC). The EDIC is charged with selecting a project to build on 38 Ave A and agreed to transfer the property back to the town if the library project passes.

• No. Our library construction grant requires that we either build an addition onto our current building OR construct a new library building on the site specified in our grant proposal: 38 Avenue A.
• Years ago, at the beginning of this process, Steve Ellis and Walter Ramsey identified three town-owned sites that might be suitable for a new library building. They included 11 Power St (AKA the old Railroad Salvage building), the First Street municipal parking lot, and 38 Avenue A. At the time, we identified 38 Avenue A as the most advantageous site out of the three for a library building project. Since then, both of the other options have been set aside to address the community's housing needs.

• On Wednesday, August 13th, both the Library Building Steering Committee and the Library Trustees unanimously voted to move forward with constructing a new main library at 38 Avenue A. 
  
  During Schwartz/Silver's site feasibility investigation, they found that in order to meet the Massachusetts Historic Commission's preservation requirements, which disallow an addition to the side of the building, and to gain enough square footage for our project goals, the Carnegie Library would need to be picked up off of its foundation and moved two dozen feet closer to Avenue A and the adjacent multi-family home would need to be demolished. That option would cost $5 million dollars more than constructing a new library building and still wouldn't include any additional parking. These factors made the decision to construct a new building much easier. You can view Schwartz/Silver's presentation, including the selection matrix that shows the pros and cons of each option.

• No. The Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program is completely state-funded and has already been bonded. The money for our project is in the bank.
• There haven't been any announcements on the future of this program.

From town consultant, Ann Burke:

Keeping municipal buildings downtown is important because:

• They are destination drivers - frequently bringing people downtown to conduct business with the city, attend meetings, participate on committees and boards, get information etc.  If you move these important functions out of the downtown, it has a direct impact on businesses that serve these people and employees.
• Citizens and visitors frequently purchase other things while in the downtown.  They may shop, have a coffee or a meal, meet friends and socialize.
• Government buildings employ people who are in the downtown every day and provide that customer base to support shops restaurants and businesses.
• Municipal services activate buildings and sometimes are tenants to private property owners and important economic contributors to sustain real estate.
• They create foot traffic.

• Montague has already been approved for state funding. In May of 2026, after most of the design work has been completed, town meeting members will vote whether to add the project to a ballot measure, which requires 2/3 majority vote to pass. If they vote to create a ballot measure, then some weeks/months later, the town would have to vote to approve the project, which requires a majority vote to pass. The project will only move forward to the construction phase if both votes pass.

• The architects and the Library Buildings Steering Committee held three community input events last summer and one, focused on project financing this spring. There will be several, smaller community events in as many Montague neighborhoods as we can muster between now and June 24th. Check our calendar for future events. 

• While the future of the Carnegie is unknown at this time, the building itself will never be in jeopardy because it has a historic preservation restriction on it. This means that its facade cannot be altered and the building cannot be torn down. If we can't find a non-profit or cultural institution to purchase the building, then the town would submit a request for purchase, with rules for what the building can or cannot be used for.

Nothing will change with the branches. A requirement of the MPLCP application was a “Comprehensive Service Plan,” which details how a new or improved building would affect multi-branch libraries. In our plan, we noted that there would be no changes to branch operations, hours, or services, which the Selectboard approved of.

The Montague Center Branch and the Millers Falls Branch cost very little to operate--just $12.51 annually for the average homeowner--but they make an outsized impact on their communities. In FY25 the Millers Falls Branch cost $27,620 to operate and the Montague Center Branch cost $32,142 or a total of $59,763 for both locations. (These operating costs include staff wages, utilities, circulating materials, and supplies, but not custodial/DPW services.) That total is 11.53% of the FY25 Libraries’ Operating Budget, just 0.48% of the FY25 Town Operating Budget, and merely 0.19% of the FY25 Annual Town Meeting Appropriations.

And community members are using these facilities. Since FY2019, the year before the pandemic, Montague Center program attendance has increased by 45% and circulation has increased by 14%. Visits to the Millers Falls Branch increased by 35% during that same period and, since the pantry opened in May of 2023, 33,516 pounds of food have been distributed to the community. Indeed, 159 people use the Millers Falls Branch Food Pantry, which is more than 10% of the village’s population. 

Yes, there will be additional operating costs associated with a new library building. The town’s administrators and I are working on calculating those costs and will provide them as soon as we can. Both these branch libraries are serving their communities well. Closing them, so that we can provide a full-service library in downtown Turners Falls, would be a disservice. This is why, in 2023, the Selectboard unanimously agreed to maintain the branches at their current level of operation.

• The new space was designed to maximize sightlines so that staff will be safer and able to oversee large spaces.
• The libraries have been requesting Adult Services Coordinator position for the last 2.5 years to meet existing programming, technology, and local history resource needs in the community. (7/10 libraries with similar populations to Montague have this kind of staff position already.) Assuming this role is filled, the only other position we may hire for is a 6-12 hour/week position to cover the children's desk during evenings and weekends.
• The only other additional cost anticipated at this time is for patron computers: 10 for adults, 2 for children, 2 for tweens, and 4 for teens. The Carnegie Library currently only has four computers for patrons.

• Talk to your friends, neighbors, community leaders, and town meeting members about the Carnegie Library, the unmet needs of the community, and the opportunity we have to fund a good portion of the project with state monies. Talk about the ways that an expanded or new library building could fill these needs. Montague deserves a library facility that fully serves the community.
• The Friends of the Libraries of the Montague Public Libraries will start fundraising for this project in the next few months. Please consider joining the Friends group and/or attending future fundraising events.