We have read recently about plans of the Jones Library in Amherst to expand the 48,000-square-foot library to some 65,000 square feet, or even to 110,000 square feet.
Why is the Jones Library acquiring this much additional space and spending millions of town money? Is somebody trying to compete with the Forbes?
If the Jones needs this much additional square footage, let’s start in the existing building and its poorly used or publicly inaccessible square feet. A creative architect can find or create a lot of square footage within the current footprint of the library. Remodel the third floor space and improve the flow in the upper floors. Rebuild the former second floor in what is now the adult fiction room. Install an elevator in the lobby that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and opens upper floors for public use.
Before we talk expansion, let’s get “in-pansion” ideas on the table. Possible library space already exists in the vacant large bank building next door, which would avoid massive construction on the Jones site. This would provide massive amounts of space, and probably has lots of ready-made office space.
The central space, viewable from the glass front door, could accommodate a second floor, or a small performance space, or a museum space. Could the vault be used as archival space for important papers in the Jones Special Collection?
The space between the buildings could be filled with a street-level parking lot with a second, lower level in the back.
Given the amount of money the Jones is going to ask the town to provide, it’s time for the Jones to clearly state and justify the need for all this new space and for the public to evaluate these needs and creative options for meeting them.
Carl Erikson
Amherst