MADISON >> It’s a plan that has been eight years in the making.

And after creating a new proposal that will expand library services into the future, the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library is set to turn its 2008 dream into a reality.

Town leaders first proposed increasing the size of E.C. Scranton Memorial Library in 2008, but the project was defeated at referendum by a narrow margin.

“The last time, one of the negatives that was said about it was it looked like one big wing and this is one big box already,” E.C. Scranton Memorial Library Director Beth Crowley said.

After hearing residents’ concerns that the building’s proposed expansion was not in character with the downtown streetscape, town leaders went back to the drawing board. For the past four years, the Library Board of Trustees and staff have worked with building consultants and architects to reduce both the project’s initial caliber and price tag.

The new proposal, which goes to referendum on Feb. 7, 2017, seeks to add on to the building’s rear and create 45 new parking spaces for patrons. Currently, E.C. Scranton Memorial Library does not offer on-site parking.

The library sits on a 1.8-acre lot that includes four existing buildings. While the library’s entrance along Boston Post Road will be retained, its infrastructure will be restored. In addition, the town’s old post office, which is located behind the property, will be moved forward; a two-family residence built in 1984 will be demolished to accommodate parking; and the facade of the Hull Office Building, positioned in the rear of the building, will be retained. Through this, a proper-sized library that will cater to present and future needs will be constructed, and the neighborhood’s character will be preserved.

The total project is estimated to cost $15 million, Crowley said. While the town is slated to bond $9 million, the library is responsible for funding the rest. If the project is approved at referendum in February, final design and construction is projected to be completed in mid to late 2019.

Part of history

The original building, which opened in 1901, was modeled by Henry Bacon, who later designed the Lincoln Memorial, according to the library’s website. Since its creation, the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library has been added onto twice — once in 1965 and later in 1989, Crowley said.

“It has been 27 years. In that time, the population has grown by 18 percent and we are out of space already,” Crowley said. “After 1989, within 10 years, they were already looking for more space and that was reduced because of budget. We don’t want to do that again. We want to make sure we have enough space to take us into the future.”

Connecticut State Library guidelines call for a library in a town the size of Madison to provide a minimum of 1.5 square feet of floor space per capita. With a population of 18,297, the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, at minimum, should stretch across 27,445 square feet. But at 17,114 square feet, the current building only offers 0.9 square foot per capita.

Through this new proposal, the library will increase its dimensions to 2 square feet per capita.

“Based on everything we want to put in the library, the 2.0 is the recommended square footage that will take us decades into the future,” Crowley said.

The new proposal calls for construction of additional meeting rooms, a remodeled and expanded children’s area, a separate, state-of-the-art teen department, adult quiet reading room and an improved 90-seat program room located on the library’s main floor. Each year, usage of the library is consistently above the state average, increasing the need for expansion. This year, 80,000 people used the library’s services, and this number is only expected to grow, Crowley said.

Funding the future

So far, the library has raised $4,370,050 in funding from state grants, pledges and donations. To help the library achieve its dream of expanding, the Board of Directors of the East River Reading Room have decided to close the town’s oldest library and donate the proceeds of the building’s sale and the transfer of its stock to the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, Crowley said.

The East River Reading Room, located on Boston Post Road, opened in 1874 — four years before the Madison Library Association was organized. From 1883 to 1895, the East River Reading Room was in operation. Residents who belonged to the Madison Library Association paid $1 per year to access East River Reading Room’s collection of more than 1,000 books, while non-members were required to pay a fee of 5 cents per week to borrow a book, according to the Madison Historical Society’s website.

To commemorate the East River Reading Room’s donation, a special display will created in the new E.C. Scranton Memorial Library. The display will feature pictures or a small cabinet of memorabilia collected from the site.

“It will be a part of the new library, representative of where our history came from,” Crowley said. “They are giving us money to improve library service for the future from how library service came to be.”

Sam Norton can be reached at 203-680-9906.
https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/E-C-Scranton-Memorial-Library-in-Madison-11318546.php
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