AMHERST — Inside the expanding Jones Library, the old building is becoming part of the view.
Dormer windows, slate roofing and exposed stonework that once formed the back side of the original 1928 library now rise inside the new addition — an unusual collision of old and new that project manager Trey Logie says gives the space “dollhouse vibes.”
“A very cool part of the whole design is you have old meeting new,” said Logie, the owner’s project manager with Colliers Project Leaders.
That meeting of eras is taking shape throughout the renovation and expansion. For example, a new main staircase will frame the historic windows of the barrel-vaulted reading room, which peek out as people ascend and descend the stairs.
While these may be the most visually striking aspects inside the ongoing renovation and expansion of the Jones Library, a $46.1 million project that is expected to be complete and open to the public in summer 2027, they are not the most important aspects for members of the elected trustees and the building committee.
On a tour led by Logie this week, joined by development director Lisa DeGrace and facilities supervisor George Hicks-Richards, officials were clear that appropriately sized teen and children’s rooms, and enough study space for the English as a Second Language program, are critical parts of the project.
“This is amazing,” said trustee Farah Ameen. “The teen space, the ESL space, it’s exciting to see it.”
“It’s amazing. I love the space for teens and children,” said Alex Lefebvre, a former trustee who now serves on the building committee.
Lefebvre said there has been tons of feedback and input from middle and high schoolers who haven’t had much room in the previous iteration of the Jones. “They were integral to the design of this space,” she said.
Teens will have cushy seating, a multimedia wall and a makerspace for crafts and what they like to call “granny hobbies,” such as knitting and crocheting. The previous teen space, a cramped corner in the basement, was “incredibly inadequate,” trustee Lee Edwards said.
The children’s room, which will connect to the previous space, will be triple the size of the old room, and youngsters will have their own makerspace, overlooking a future garden.
At the English as a Second Language program, six study rooms are available, along with a room for the Literacy Project that has mostly operated off-site.
Other areas of the expanded 43 Amity St. library, which is growing from 48,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet, include a sensory room, an office for the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service and bathrooms on each level, including some that are gender neutral.
DeGrace said that small study rooms at the back of the adult fiction space can be reserved, providing private space for people to work and read.
In the main area, where people will check out books, patrons will be able to bring in coffee, a pastry or a sandwich from a local restaurant and eat while reading a newspaper or using a laptop.
Throughout the old part of the building, the L-shaped 98-year-old section that is still intact, the Filipino mahogany that formed walls, entranceways and fireplaces is protected and will eventually be revealed.
At the top floor, the Goodwin Room, where trustees have long met, will have a restored chandelier, and will be open to the public, while below it the former Amherst Room, and the technical services space, will become quiet reading rooms for adults. The main offices on the ground level, where the library director worked, become the book sorting space.
The historic grand staircase will also continue to greet patrons as it has for many decades, and the space that was built as a theater and in recent years has housed adult fiction, will become the barrel-vaulted reading room, with paint and plaster being touched up, and a large Palladian window being turned into a doorway.
The garden level, where the majority of work is underway, will feature a larger Woodbury Room, with seating for about 200 people and a kitchenette, that can be used after hours. Special collections and the Civil War tablets exhibit will also be part of that floor.
As a zero-net-energy-ready fossil-free building, furnaces and boilers have been removed. “This will be a lot more efficient with electric building,” Logie said.
The work also meant covering a small crawl space once used as a coal chute. The basement’s lally columns remain, but a maze of back hallways, narrow staircases and frequently broken elevators has been removed.
One of the uncertainties throughout the project has been whether the library will reach its fundraising goals.
DeGrace said so far the campaign has collected $10.4 million, with $5.4 million left to go to meet its $15.8 million obligation.
Among the upcoming events are fundraising challenges people can participate in, private house parties and various special efforts, DeGrace said, as a commitment remains to seek grants that will cover the gap.
