July 1, 2009
It is hard to believe that one year has passed since the library moved to Joy Street. The months have flown by, with more and more patrons discovering us everyday. Reactions to the temporary space have been positive. The space may be small, but patrons have found the location very convenient and cozy. And unlike the old library, parking has never been a problem as we are located within a shopping center. The only real difficulty has been the limited amount of seating. That will certainly be addressed in the new library.
Progress on the new library is moving right along. We are right on schedule to move in to our beautiful library in the spring of 2010. People who ask me about the project are amazed at the size of the building. I explain to them that we are building for a 20 year need, based on future population projections. We will have space in the stacks for the collection to grow and we will have plenty of comfortable seating and many public access computers. In addition, I am hearing compliments on how attractive the overall design is. It will certainly be a building Mashpee can be proud of.
The rainy weather in June slowed down the progress of the exterior a bit but the contractor is hard at work to make up lost time. A second layer of plywood is being installed over the Tyvek air barrier and the roof should be shingled very soon. Windows should be installed within the next month and the masonry exterior will begin as soon as the air barrier is completed. Once the building is weather tight, progress will begin on the interior.
Work is ongoing, selecting furnishings and interior colors and finishes. The subcommittee expects that the furnishings package should be going out to bid before the end of the summer. The subcommittee made field trips to other recently constructed libraries to view and try out the furnishings under consideration. They received samples of chairs from some vendors so they could try out the chairs for comfort.
At our present rate of completion, the General Contractor expects to finish the bulk of the construction by January 2010. Once the library is completed, shelving will be installed and items will be retrieved from storage. At some point, the Joy St. library will close so that the rest of the collection can be packed and moved to the new building. We expect to reopen for business in the spring of 2010.
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JANUARY 31, 2009
The groundbreaking ceremony on January 15th went off without a hitch despite a small snowstorm and the bitter cold. A crowd of about 50 hardy souls showed up to watch a group of Trustees, Selectmen, Planning and Construction Committee members, state and town officals and library staff take the first shovel full of dirt to kick off the project. A high level of excitement kept the crowd warm despite the weather and the remarks from the speakers were very brief.
Selectmen Wayne Taylor opened the ceremony by welcoming the crowd. He asked for a moment of silence in memory of Sunny Merritt who had just passed away. Sunny was a very active part of the community, including several years as a member of the original library building committee. David Burton, chairman of the Board of Library Trustees thanked everyone for coming and for supporting the project for these many years. Katherine Dibble, Vice Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, came down from Boston to help celebrate this momentous occasion. Almost $3,000,000 in funding for the project is coming from a state construction grant administered by the Board of Library Commissioners. Library Director Helene DeFoe added a moment of levity by saying her remarks would be brief and then unfurling a long
strip of cards on which her remarks were written. All by three of the cards were blank but the look on the face of the crowd was priceless. She thanked the group for continuing to have faith in the project over the ten years it took to get to the groundbreaking. She mentioned three trustees who were there at the start, Mimi Marsh, Charlotte Faneuil and Rcichard Shaughnessy. Although they've passed away, they would have been very proud to see the library reach this milestone.
After the ceremony, the crowd enjoyed light refreshments at Christ the King Church while savoring the moment of seeing the project begin. Town Manager Joyce Mason, Selectmen Theresa Cook, Planning and Construction Committee members Sheldon Gilbert and irving Goldberg, Trustees Carlo D'Este and Dianna Smith, town officals Catherine Laurent, Director of DPW and Assistant Town Manager Rene Reed and Barbara Notarius, President of the Friends of Mashpee Library, also took part in the ceremony and festivities.
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November 18, 2008
After many years of hard work, the Mashpee Public Library building project is on it's way. On November 3, 2008, the Board of Selectmen voted to enter a contract with Bufftree Building Company of New Bedford, based on a recommendation and a unanimous vote of from the Planning and Construction Committee. The committee was pleased to receive seven bids on the project. The spread between the lowest four bidders was $49,200.00 or less than 1.00%. This was an extremely small spread on a project of this size and reflects the hard work of the architect. J. Stewart Roberts and the committee in developing the plans and specifications. All of the bidders understood the specifications and were bidding from a common understanding. It is unusual to have so many bidders so closely spaced in their bids. Bufftree Building
Company's bid of $6,402,800.00 is well within the project budget.
The Project Manager, Rick Pomroy, thoroughly reviewed the bid forms and DCAM files for the General Contractor and all of the subcontractors. Bufftree had an excellent DCAM rating of 97% and discussions with previous clients spoke of their professionalism and excellent work.
Demolition of the existing library is the next step. I expect that will be scheduled soon; perhaps before the end of the month. Once that has been completed, a ground breaking ceremony for the new library will be scheduled. We anticipated completion around January 2010. Stay tuned for further building updates.
On another note, the OverDrive Downloadable Audio books have been a big hit with busy patrons. This service went live in April and the number of book and music titles is growing each month. Patrons can download an audiobook to their computer and then transfer it to an MP3 player for portability. The item automatically checks itself in at the end of the loan period so there are no worries about being late. If the item you want is out, reserve it and you will receive an email telling you when it is available. This service is available 24/7 from your home computer.
Just recently, OverDrive has worked with Apple to obtain the licensing rights to IPOD compatible titles. A number of these titles are now accessible through CLAMS starting this month. If you are interested in a list of available titles or would like more information on Downloadable Audio books, visit www.clamsnet.org.
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September 10, 2008
The Mashpee Public Library successfully relocated to 5 Joy St in the South Cape Village Shopping Center. After closing for two weeks for packing and relocation, the library celebrated its Grand Reopening on June 4, 2008. Many thanks to the library staff, Bridget Bontrager, Janet Burke, Janet Trask, Susan Cannavo and Debbie Umina for all their hard work in getting the collection packed and the new space organized.
Steve Cook, chairman of the Planning and Construction Committee, did a wonderful job of laying out the shelving in the new space. Catherine Laurent, DPW Director, and her crew worked many hours on transporting and setting up shelves at the library on Joy St. The Barnstable Country Sheriff’s Department provided work crews for the move. They did a superb moving and setting up. Thanks to the many library volunteers who helped with the packing and unpacking. Special thanks to Ed DeFoe for the countless tasks he did to help with the move. Relocating was the first step in getting ready for the construction of the new Mashpee Public Library because the building on Steeple Street is coming down to make way for the new building.
South Cape Village Shopping Center is located a quarter mile from the Mashpee Rotary, on Route 28, heading towards Falmouth. Turn off Route 28 on to Donna's Lane and use the second driveway near Roche Brothers Supermarket. The library is located in the interior of the shopping center, next to the Global Telephone Store. Many thanks to Charles Talanian and Melinda Gallant for making us feel so welcome in South Cape Village. The 22 months that we expect to be here is going very fast and location is been fabulous.
Design work is completed for the new library and the project is out for bid. The bidding period closes on October 15th. A General Contractor will be selected and will begin construction early in November. The anticipated date for completion and moving back to the newly finished library is January 2010.
We are very excited to announce the library is planning to build a LEED Certified Building. The LEEDs rating is awarded by the U. S. Green Building Council. It would be the first library on the Cape to achieve that distinction. The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners have announced a grant opportunity to help newly constructed libraries achieve LEED Certification. Mashpee will be eligible for $146,727 in grant funding if it receives the certification and the library will file a Letter of Intent for the grant this fall. We are confident that the energy efficiencies designed into the building will earn us the needed points to qualify.
We had a very successful summer at our new home. Tuesday evenings were family nights during July and August. A series of seven interesting performances were held in the Brick Courtyard, near Heather's Restaurant. The performers ranged from a zookeeper, mad scientist, drummer, Caribbean singer, storyteller, and the amazing Yo Yo People. More than a thousand people joined us for one or more of the performances.
Over the summer, we've expanded our collection of Downloadable Audio Books. They can be enjoyed on your computer or loaded on to an MP3 player. Access to them is directly from the town website or from the CLAMS catalog, www.clamsnet.org.overdrive.com. Click on the link on the library page for OverDrive Downloadable books, take the tour and register as a user.
We had to store some of the non fiction collection to fit into the smaller space, but we can easily borrow whatever you need from other CLAMS libraries. Requests are delivered to Mashpee and usually arrrive in 48 hours. If you haven't had an opportunity to visit our new space, stop in and check it out. It's getting rave reviews from library users.
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