Around Town

Local Organizations and COVID-19: New Canaan Library

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In today’s Q&A, we hear from New Canaan Library Executive Director Lisa Oldham about services that the organization is offering through the COVID-19 emergency and how the staff is faring, among other matters. 

Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: I want to talk about the library. First, though, how are you faring? 

Lisa Oldham: Thank you. I’m well. Give me a rundown on what library services are available while the building is physically closed. There are a lot! Digital lending, live-stream programs and technology help are three of the big ones. Our digital collections are excellent and we continue to add more digital content to meet the huge increase in demand. Many library members have not previously borrowed e-books or e-audio books from us so we’ve created how-to videos to help them get them started.

Government

Skeptical Historical Review Committee Member Calls for Access to Library To Gauge Problems with Facility 

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Saying she didn’t believe that New Canaan Library’s building and systems are failing, a town resident and preservation architect on Tuesday called for the town to direct a municipal committee to gain access to records and study the reported problems. 

A review and assessment by the Historical Review Committee “would provide the town with objective, professional information on the status of the existing facility,” Rose Scott Long-Rothbart told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. A member of the appointed five-member Committee herself, Long-Rothbart continued, “This information, in conjunction with a full accounting by the library of what has been spent in the last 10 to 15 years on maintaining its facility, will give the taxpayers a better picture of what they are being asked to support.”

She referred to the library’s request for $10 million in town funding for its $30 million rebuilding project, unveiled last week. Plans call for demolition of the current facility, including an original 1913-built fieldstone-exterior section overlooking Main and Cherry Street, to make way for a town green. Long-Rothbart said she and others don’t believe the original structure cannot be incorporated into the library’s plans. “I appreciate being invited by the library to view those plans, although at the eleventh hour,” she said.

Around Town

VIDEO: New Canaan Library Unveils Dramatic Rebuilding Plans

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New Canaan Library on Tuesday unveiled plans for a rebuilt facility that makes dramatically different use of the organization’s gateway block to the downtown and features a glass-and-stone exterior, 300-seat auditorium, rooftop terrace, café, public concourse, fireplace, two large conference rooms and “town green” at the corner of Main and Cherry Streets. Appearing before the Board of Finance ahead of making a formal request for a $10 million town contribution toward the overall $30 million project, library officials described the planned new building as a state-of-the-art facility that opens possibilities in events, programming and gathering for the library and the wider community.  

Library Director Lisa Oldham noted that the real estate and business communities already have voiced support for the project, and that the rebuilt facility is expected to be an asset for New Canaan that draws homebuyers and encourages residents to stay here. She shared projections from a draft economic impact study that the library commissioned the Connecticut Economic Research Council showing “that the library will drive significant new dollars to the local economy, up to $6 million a year in new consumer spending.”

“The town’s critical capital allocation for the library should be viewed as an investment with a clear and quantifiable return in the form of real economic gains that will stimulate our local economy,” Oldham said during the Board’s regular meeting at Town Hall, attended by a standing room-only crowd. 

The library itself has already raised about $15 million toward the project and plans call for a spring 2021 groundbreaking followed by 18 to 24 months of construction. The current building would operate while the new one is built. 

The new 48,000-square-foot building would replace an aging facility with a failing, costly physical plant that hasn’t had a significant renovation in four decades, Oldham said. 

During their presentation to the Board, Oldham and the library’s director of development and marketing, Ellen Crovatto, played a short film that featured 3D renderings of the planned new library’s interior and exterior (see above—it drew loud applause from the room), reviewed the need for a new facility and efforts to solicit input from locals, spotlighted the library’s high community engagement and broke down to-date fundraising successes for the project (including 55-plus gifts of $100,000 or more). 

Board members complimented Oldham and Crovatto on their presentation and plans, which Michael Chen called “mind-blowing.”

“I really think this is a game-changer for the town of New Canaan,” Chen said.

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Op-Ed: The Important Role of Libraries in Building Community

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Recently, the New York Times travel section published a piece on libraries as tourist attractions replete with gorgeous photos. How exciting to see phenomenal libraries from places as diverse as Doha, Texas, China and Scandinavia celebrated. Author Alyson Krueger looked at the beautiful designs, the interesting offerings, dollars spent and number of visitors welcome, leaving no doubt these magnificent buildings are worthy of tourists’ time and interest. This latest piece joins similar articles written in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and The Atlantic over the past couple of years. Clearly libraries are experiencing a renaissance and people are taking notice.