Library Challenges for Safety and Handicapped Access

The Library Board met in a rare Tuesday session today, part of a reduced summer schedule. In addition to welcoming new member Kim Brennan, reviewing finances, and discussing how to obtain a fair assessment on adding property to the site, we all moved outside at the end of the meeting to contemplate the problems and promises of resolving the issues on the parking-lot side of the Manse.  Look at the two photos above.  

In the top photo you see the flagstone walk that no one uses, which is just as well since it is uneven and could cause a user to trip. With financing from the Friends of the Pleasant Valley Library, we hope to see this fixed.  Also, we would remove the ancient lilacs and other planting so that the walk could be farther from the driveway, since many modern automobiles are built in such a way that they project over the walk when parked.

Now consider the second photo. We realized that the walk issue is closely connected to the improvement of handicapped access to the Library via the ramp. The iron fire escape in the photo is no longer considered safe, and needs to be removed if we widen the ramp and reduce the slope to make it conform to modern standards for wheelchair access. Fortunately, State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro has arranged for a grant to help  resolve these problems--and also to install a door that can be opened by a button as is also needed for true handicapped access. It is not clear, however, that we should remove the fire escape when we have no other second escape from the Children's Section on the second floor--although not officially safe, it clearly could be used in an emergency. 

The ramp and the walk both terminate in what is often taken for part of the parking lot.  Although it is part of the blacktop, cars are not supposed to park up close to the building. There is nothing there to stop them, however, so they frequently are parked very close to the side of the ramp.

When the Board gathered outside and saw how the problems of the unsafe and unused walk are closely connected to the problems of the inadequate handicapped ramp, we asked Greg Galarza, head of the Building and Grounds committee, to seek a solution that would resolve all the problems at once.  Stay tuned.