Library Will Undergo Renovations

Students who use the Cambridge Public Library may have to walk a little further if a relocation plan currently gaining momentum succeeds.

The 107-year-old library is scheduled to undergo renovations through an addition to the current site of the building that would cost more than $20 million.

However, some residents have proposed a new plan that would relocate the main branch of the library to Central Square, according to the Cambridge Chronicle.

"I can imagine something remarkable in Central Square," City Councillor Henrietta A. Davis told the Chronicle. "It's the perfect destination. It would serve a broader community."

However, Davis said in an interview last night that she was not sure whether renovating the library in its current location or moving it to Central Square was a better option.

"I don't know which is best," she said. "I only know I have info on one option and only one option."

The current plan, which Library Director Susan Flannery will present to the City Council two weeks from today, would add a 55,000 square-foot wing onto the current 35,000 square-foot library, according to Jose Gomez-Ibanez, a Cambridge resident and Bok professor of urban planning and public policy in the Graduate School of Design.

In addition, the plan calls for parking spaces for more than 100 cars, said Gomez-Ibanez, who lives on Ellery Street, next to the Broadway Street library.

Davis said she thought there were two reasons why the city should consider relocating the library.

"The main library is not good for people across the city and not close enough to public transportation," she said.

The second issue was what Davis called "bringing coals to the new castle."

"In mid-Cambridge, where the library is now, you have people who have the resources people get in the library," she said. "They have books and computers at home and things in the library."

"But there are people who are not blessed with such resources," Davis continued, "and we should bring them to communities that really need them...instead of bringing the coals to the new castle."

Other Cambridge residents agreed that the issues of accessibility and use that Davis raised were significant.

"Many feel that Central Square would be more accessible to many of the people in need of basic library services," said Robert B. Boulrice, the president of the Central Square Neighborhood Coalition.

"Central Square being the heart of Cambridge and accessible by the T in some people's minds would be a more effective place for the main library and, in particular, a more effective place to provide services to the elderly and the youth of Cambridge," he said.

But Boulrice said he thought there were other issues to consider before the location was discussed.

"It's premature to discuss where the main branch of the library should be," he said.

Boulrice said the Neighborhood Coalition met with Flannery on February 21 to discuss issues relating to the library, of which two were very prominent.

"One, what is the best way to restore or renovate a historically significant building?" Boulrice said. "Two, what is the most efficient way to deliver library services in the next century?"

In addition to the main branch, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, there are six neighborhood branches.

Boulrice said he was concerned about what effect the expenditures of renovating the main branch might have on the neighborhood branches.

"We are concerned that if $20 million are spent to renovate or expand the Broadway Street complex that there may be no money for the branches and that the neighborhood branches might suffer as a result," he said.

Renovations

One reason for the suggestion that Cambridge look into relocating the main branch is that the current expansion plans have met with some resistance from neighbors in mid-Cambridge.

"I, and many of my neighbors here in Cambridge, believe that the library needs to be expanded and renovated, but we worry that the current plan is too intrusive on the [mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Park] and that the process the city has used has not involved the neighborhood," Gomez-Ibanez said.

He said he thought that many of the neighbors wanted both the expanded library and the protected park.

"This is the only park for quite a distance, unless you count Harvard Yard," he explained. "If you come here on a summer day, you will see families and dogs and people sunning themselves. There are many apartment buildings in the neighborhood and most people don't have yards."

Gomez-Ibanez said he thought the expansion plans might be going a little too far.

"If the library insists on building its new building right in the middle of the park and if it insists on as many parking spaces as it is now, then I think this program is just maybe too big for this small site," he said.

Timeline

According to city councillors, the plans for the library must be set by mid-April, the deadline for the library to submit a proposal to the state seeking funding for the renovation.

"There is a statewide level grant for library construction for which Cambridge is apparently eligible in the range of $3 million to $4 million," said Councillor Francis H. Duehay '55. "That application must go forward by April 10 and therefore there is a need for preliminary approval by the City Council by that date."

But Boulrice said he thought "it would be unfortunate if a hastily-arrived-at decision were made due to any particular grant deadline since the bulk of the money would be city money."

Davis said one solution proposed would be to submit the proposal to the state, then decide what to do when and if they get the money.

"I think it is too bad we are put in that situation and I'm not sure what is going to happen now," she said.