Adding to a Library Building

For ten years, the Building Committee of the Pleasant Valley Free Library planned to expand the Library by creating a new two-story addition to replace one of the two one-story additions that were put on the original old Manse when it was converted for Library use in the early1970s.  One addition--the area no occupied largely by the circulation desk and the Director's desk--in that plan would have been kept, while the other addition--the long section where nearly all of the books (stacks) are located--would have been removed and replaced by the new, much larger addition.  It seemed like a good plan originally, but recent rethinking has uncovered some of the flaws in the plan.

For one thing maintenance on the part that would be kept, the old original manse and circulation-desk addition, has been rather expensive.  A quick rundown of costs over the past ten or twelve years would include a new roof, repairs on the attic to keep bats out, replacement of beams that had been cut, replacement of a sidewalk that had become dangerous, repairs to the foundation, beams added to the roof that was otherwise beginning to bow out, a new lining for the furnace, and replacement of badly deteriorated soffits.  There was no reason to think that these kinds of problems were all solved--we knew of some already that we did not have the money in hand to fix.

Another set of problems concerned the requirements of a two-story building.  A large addition would mean that the entire building would have to become compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.  The Library Director learned that maintenance on an elevator might run as much as $5,000 a year. Furthermore, the Library would need to add staff to cover the second floor, another big expense.  Experience shows that problems with air conditioning or heating are much more likely in a two-story building.

Reflection on these topics was inspired by the recent ground-breaking for a two-room addition to the Staatsburg Library.  Unlike the Pleasant Valley Library, which is a town-association library, the Staatsburg Library is a "Public Special Legislative District," which enables it to hold a referendum on borrowing for a building.  The District voted to allow Staatsburg Library to borrow $350,000 for its addition.  Donations and a state library construction grant brought in another $254,700, enabling the Library to build the addition.

A two-room addition to the present Pleasant Valley Library building would not solve our problems.  It is apparent that we need to replace the present building with a larger one-story structure.  But it seems likely that we will have to find a way to combine borrowing, donations, and grants to make that possible.  Also we are going to need more than the $600,000 that appears to suffice for Staatsburg.