Housatonic — The Ramsdell Library should remain open but it needs “to evolve” in order to remain a “vibrant part of the community.” That was the determination of a consultant hired by the trustees to examine the current needs and the future of what functions as the Housatonic branch of the Great Barrington Libraries.
Rob Cullin of Kimberly Bolan and Associates, the Indiana-based library consultancy hired by the library trustees, has presented his final report, “The Ramsdell Library: Program and Facility Vision.” Click here to view the 55-page document along with the results of the community surveys.
See video below of Rob Cullin of Kimberly Bolan and Associates presenting his final report:
“We did a lot of data research looking at statistics and collection usage,” Cullin said at Tuesday evening’s final session at the Unitarian church, right next door to the Ramsdell on Main Street in Housatonic. “We’ve come out with a set of recommendations based on that information.”
The report is the culmination of a months-long series of information sessions that included eight community forums and discussion groups. If approved, the plan could involve as much as $5 million in improvements to the popular Ramsdell, a Classical Revival structure built in 1909 as a gift from T. Ellis Ramsdell, son of the owner of Monument Mills.
G. Patrick Hollenbeck, who chairs the libraries’ board of trustees, has said the money for the improvements would come from grants, private fundraising and aid of up to 50 percent from the state Board of Library Commissioners.
Here are the highlights of the three-phase recommendations from Cullin’s report:
Phase 1: Implement a short-term fix for access issues around compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act; rearrange spaces on the lower level “for an immediate low-cost improvement”; refocus hours, collections and programming. Cost estimate: $100,000 to $250,000.
Phase 2: Construct a permanent ADA addition; and renovate the basement into a “useable space.” Cost: $2.5 million to $4.5 million.
Phase 3: Furnish and equip a possible makerspace in the lower level; furnish and equip the upper-level community room; complete other main-level upgrades. Cost $150,000 to $300,000.
The upper level is currently used by the Great Barrington Historical Commission and by the Great Barrington Historical Society as an archival space. Cullin described the historical society as a tenant and said the question of its role in the future of the Ramsdell “needs to be answered.” But there was little discussion of it on Tuesday.
As for the point of view of the commission and the historical society, Gary Leveille, a member of the commission and the society’s archivist, emailed a statement to The Edge. Click here to read it. Leveille also attended last night’s forum.
Cullin seemed acutely aware of the extent to which some of Great Barrington’s residents are tax-weary. So in the funding section of the report, he added: “Given the political and economic climate of the region, this project will need to be funded through local, regional, state, and federal grants in addition to general community fundraising.”
Since 2005, Great Barrington has had to pay for several costly public works projects, including its share of the $29 million construction of new regional elementary and middle schools, a $30 million sewer upgrade, a $9.1 million firehouse, a new $1.1 million state-of-the-art tower ladder fire truck and, most recently, more than $1 million towards the design and engineering of the Main Street reconstruction project. Spending on those projects is widely assumed to be the reason why voters in the town twice rejected expensive reconstruction projects at the Monument Mountain Regional High School.
Cullin pointed to other library projects, some of which he consulted on himself, that were accomplished with little in the way of taxpayers’ funds. The public library in the Worcester County town of Leicester was recently expanded and renovated to the tune of almost $9 million, $4.2 million of which came from the state library commissioners and $2.5 million in other grants and private donations. Click here to see a list of past projects funded by the state.
The new library in neighboring Hudson, New York, which was built in the renovated Hudson Armory, “was planned and designed without significant local tax dollars. Instead, private funding and fundraising were key components,” Cullin said.
In contrast, while there was recently an emergency repair to the chimney and roof, the Ramsdell hasn’t had a major renovation since 1930 and, as Cullin has noted, remains handicapped inaccessible.
Cullin also addressed a subject that had come up in previous Great Barrington focus groups he had listened to in preparing his report: “We had a lot of people coming to the sessions thinking that this whole process was about justifying closing the [Ramsdell].”
“All the input and information we’ve seen points to keeping the Ramsdell open, making it a long-term permanent part of this community,” Cullin said.
That no doubt came as a relief to fans of the Ramsdell who recall when a petition to shutter it — circulated by a Housatonic resident, no less — was put on the warrant for the 2010 annual town meeting.
A Facebook page was promptly formed by opponents of the petition. A stand-in on the front lawn of the Ramsdell attracted more than 100 people a couple of months before the town meeting, at which the petition was rejected.
But in the years since, both the libraries’ trustees and Friends of the Libraries, a separate group that handles fundraising and community outreach initiatives, have tried to boost the standing of the Ramsdell, which is considerably smaller than its parent, the Mason Library in downtown Great Barrington. Ten years ago, the Mason completed a $4.1 million construction project that doubled its size and made it fully handicapped accessible.
The friends have tried to increase the Ramsdell’s profile in the community, opening that library on a limited number of Sundays, though the initiative was the subject of a brief labor dispute among library staff. In addition, the trustees have increased special programming at the Ramsdell.
Cullin said, if there’s one thing he learned from the sessions he facilitated in preparing for his report, it’s that, “There is overwhelming support for keeping the Ramsdell Library open.”
But there was also an agreement that the Ramsdell’s resources and services need to be focused, in part so that the Ramsdell is not merely duplicating the services of the Mason, but on a smaller scale. In his surveys, Cullin found that only five of the 303 respondents said, “Close it, we don’t need it.”
Cullin also noted that, with the closing of the Housatonic School, the Ramsdell is effectively the last remaining public building in the village. Investment in it, Cullin said, “is critical not only to Housatonic, but to the larger future of the Town of Great Barrington.”
Cullin, whose firm has worked with more than 130 public and private libraries, said the existence of two public libraries in a town the size of Great Barrington is not uncommon, but nor is it “widespread.”
“The two library locations are 10 to 15 minutes apart, but both serve separate and distinct villages within the town and serve a sprawling 45 square miles of the Berkshires,” Cullin explained.
In a follow-up interview, Hollenbeck said the next steps include building the ADA ramp. “I’ve committed to making this happen before the first hard frost,” he said.
The trustees will also assess and determine the strategic direction of the Ramsdell Library and its services. They will also meet with library directors and board leaders from the region who have either started or completed successful building projects “not primarily funded by taxpayers.”
Next on the agenda is to develop a financial and funding strategy, define the project phasing and begin that state construction grant process.
“Simultaneously, we will begin the process of starting a 501(c)(3) foundation,” Hollenbeck said.
Asked about the cost of Cullin’s work, Hollenbeck said original consultant work from Kimberly Bolan and Associates covered the eight focus groups, a community survey and collating the data into a written report with two consultants. Including hotels and travel, that cost approximately $9,000. Cullin’s return trip was $1,400.
“We decided the material was so strong and Rob is so compelling,” Hollenbeck explained. “We decided to bring him back for last night’s presentation.”
