Library News
Dispatches from the Carnegie Basement
By CAITLIN KELLEY
TURNERS FALLS –
Since the town approved Montague’s Main Library Building Project at the ballot box last June, the Library Building Steering Committee (LBSC), Library Trustees, and I have worked diligently to move the building design forward, address the preservation of the Carnegie’s local history and museum collections as well as those collections’ transition to the new facility, and lay the groundwork for a full-scale fundraising campaign.
While decisions about public bathroom layouts, hand dryers, family restroom sink heights, circulation desk orientation, workroom window height, outlet placement, and book drop room design may not be the most thrilling to share with the public, all these things – and many more! – have been carefully considered and regularly reviewed by building consultants for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to maximize the building’s flexibility and longevity.
Interior renderings of the new building will be completed before the end of the year.
Next, to ensure that Montague’s Local History Collection is fully organized and preserved before transitioning to the new building, Montague is working with Lo Leonard, an intern from Simmons University’s library science program. Lo’s project this semester is to go through the remaining portions of the Collection that are not yet indexed – delicate 19th-century manuscripts, photographs, scrapbooks, and ephemera – and to preserve them in acid-free boxes and create records for them.
Lo will also make recommendations for the collection’s usability so that future patrons, accessing the collection for research, will find it organized in an intuitive way.
Over the next couple years, the Library Trustees will also work with the Montague Historical Society and the Montague historical commission to determine the scope of the museum collection that will move to the new building. I’m excited to create a space that pays homage to Montague’s long history, with artifacts ranging from dinosaur footprints to indigenous hand tools, and from knives from the John Russell Cutlery Company to leather postcards depicting Avenue A.
One thing that we know will feature is an original crayon portrait of Alvah Crocker, generously donated earlier this month by the Montague Historical Society, dating to the year before Crocker’s death in 1874.
Finally, the libraries have hired a consultant to assist us with putting together a fundraising campaign. As with many campaigns, we’ll first complete a feasibility study to identify how much money we can reasonably expect to raise, and how best to go about it. Donations will decrease the amount that the town borrows, directly reducing taxpayer costs.
While there will be a lot of work over the next several months behind the scenes, we anticipate kicking off the public portion of the fundraising campaign at or close to the new library’s groundbreaking ceremony, late next summer.
Stay tuned for more details!
Thanks!
Caitlin