Residents: Library Branches Are Missed

The North and South Grafton library branches may be gone, but they are not forgotten, at least according to residents at tonight’s selectmen’s meeting.

During a discussion about the next step for the , several residents noted that the branches _ in particular, the in North Grafton _ could help serve the needs of the community.

Using the branches, they said, could alleviate crowding issues at the current library.

The need for more space was one issue that led trustees to advocate for a library expansion. The project, which would have cost the town about $6 million, with a state grant funding an additional $5 million, was soundly rejected last month in a special election last month.

Library trustees voted several years ago to close the branches, saying it was not cost-effective to run three branches. The branches also have issues of accessibility, trustees have said.

The Nelson Library in North Grafton is now operated by volunteers, while the South Grafton library now houses a thrift shop.

Instead, the town has one main library in the town center.

Several residents at tonight’s meeting questioned that decision.

“Why are we just talking about the center library?” Laurie Kuck said.

She said that the building is closer to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act than the center library.

During the debate leading up to the library expansion vote, some residents said the Nelson library would make a good children’s library. The children’s library at the center cannot accommodate all the children who want to attend programs, some of which are then held outdoors or in other buildings, library officials have said.

Kuck disagreed with the argument that parents would not want to take their children to a separate library from the potentially more adult-focused library in town center.

“People travel where their kids need to go,’’ she said.

Resident Scott Browne said he thinks the “town of Grafton likes the branches,’’ although he said needed work on the center library should take priority right now.

He suggested that the center library consider hosting “outreach programs’’ at the branches, such as movie nights or summer reading programs.

Such gestures would “go a long way toward settling things down,’’ he said. They would help “build morale’’ and “douse the flames’’ of controversy that the library issue has generated, he said.

Library director Hilding Hedberg said that the idea of hosting programs at the branches has merit.