Library Board Pitches Public-Private Partnership for New Space

The borough public library board of trustees pitched four concepts for the construction of a new library to the Board of Commissioners this week. The current library building is 92 years old.

The 30-minute, PowerPoint demonstration was presented during a commissioners work session at the Municipal Hall on Tuesday. 

Borough officials cautioned that efforts to build a new library have been alive for the last 25 years. But the new push is being fueled by pending mandates to allow access to the disabled to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and a general sense that it's time to do something.

"We have two special-needs schools in town, Bancroft and the Kingsway Learning Center," Mayor Tish Colombi said Thursday. "When we have to carry a child into the children's department there, that bothers me. That's when kids get to learn to love libraries. To me, that's the urgency."

The total costs for the projects range from $6.1 million to $8.5 million. The public funding ranges from $3.6 million to $5.9 million. Three of the four concepts would be located in a borough-owned lot on Clement Street. The fourth concept, one favored by the library board, would be located on private land at the corner of Wilkins and Allen avenues.

"Three of the concepts envision a traditional approach: the borough would award a contract for the construction of a building that houses a public library," a statement from the library board said.

"The fourth concept envisions a public/private partnership under which an independent entity would facilitate the construction—on private property and by a private developer—of a multi-use building that includes not only a modern public library but also some other highly desirable community facilities. All four concepts call for financial contributions from private sources."

The library board is seeking feedback from the commissioners about the whether to hire consultants to produce more details about the concepts. It would be paid for with existing endowment funds of the library, not with public money.

The commissioners are expected to discuss what happens next at its next work-session meeting later this month.