The Board of Selectmen, Board of Library Trustees and Town Manager request that Town approve Special Town Meeting Article 11 to transfer the care, custody and control of the Center Street building to the Board of Library Trustees and to borrow $1.05 million as the Town contribution to the proposed Library project.

Cost Sharing The borrowing would be contingent on the Library Board of Trustees receiving $1,878,000 from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners Public Library Construction Grant Program and on raising $1,072,000 in private donations and other grants. The Town’s $1,050,000 portion of the cost-share will be paid over 20 years, and will add $0.18 per thousand to the property tax rate for the first year and decline each year thereafter. For the owner of a median single family home assessed in FY2001 at $285,000 this will add $51.00 for the first year.

Reconstruction/Preservation The $4 million project will fund a complete gut/rehab of the Center Street building while saving and restoring the façade, the front entrance staircases, and the historic vaulted ceiling. The result will be an expanded Library from the present 5,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet with the ability to provide quiet reading and study spaces; to increase the capacity to hold 40,000 volumes; an abundance of seating for Library users of all ages and purposes; dedicated space for computers and other technology equipment; and a dignified and appropriate setting for the Rose Dorothea that is integrated with the Local History Collection. The new Library will be fully accessible for Library users of all ages and mobility; will be equipped with an elevator reaching to all floors; four meeting rooms that will be available for Library programs and community use; and nearby parking at the Johnson Street Parking Lot.