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Part-way through construction!

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Construction has been going very well, and we expect to be back in our newly renovated library space in mid-April, 2019. For now, you can find us in the meeting room of the Greenfield Cooperative Bank at 33 Bridge Street. They are wonderful hosts!

This is probably waaaay more detail than you might want. I apologize for that, but find this project fascinating! Good people, good project, good future! Every inch of the library space is a work-in-progress. We have a great team of people working in our iconic town building; contractor, subcontractors and architect. D.A. Sullivan is the general contractor (Brandon and his amazing crew) and Jones-Whitsett Architects (George, Kristian and their awesome colleagues.) Add to that Board and Town support, and we are in good hands.

It’s still like magic, watching the daily changes in the library building. Just today the scaffolding in the adult non-fiction room came down, revealing our library’s new Andover Cream walls. (Gone are the two tones of green. Does anyone remember when the walls were painted those colors?) The Andover Cream is especially beautiful with the day’s grand sunshine streaming in. The color has lightened the room, and makes it appear more expansive. Think of how the imagination can soar in a space like this!

Coupled with new lights on top of each book stack, browsing, even during one of our late winter afternoons, will be much easier and more pleasant. Each new light extends over the top shelf, angling the light in the best direction for perusing the books. We have kept the original ceiling lights in adult non-fiction but replaced the bulbs with long-lasting LEDs. A new, more aesthetic set of hanging lights is slated for the front desk. (We’d had a very bright modern, industrial-looking unit there before.)

JRJ Construction, our plasterers, finished up the lathing and plastering work this past week. (Tim and Frank are old-time masters of this kind of work.) Roughened, cracked tender patches of ceiling and wall plaster were taken down and replaced with sturdy new materials. In some spots you could see down to the brickwork or metalwork underneath, before repair. The rotunda, the dome, the two front “corners,” adult non-fiction room ceilings, and director’s office required a good deal of work to repair. To a much lesser extent, repair work was needed in the two upstairs wing rooms. You can check out our Facebook albums to see some of this work. Photos are periodically added.

Constant, steady progress is being made in the areas of electrical wiring, air conditioning and carpentry & woodwork. This work is being done by M.L. Schmitt electricians, Adams Plumbing & Heating, and D.A. Sullivan, respectively.

New outlets have been bravely placed where no outlets had been before (such as in adult non-fiction and at our new computer bars in Young Adult and the meeting room); a new electric panel and lights have been installed in the new staff workroom, the large modern light panels in the upstairs wing rooms are being replaced with energy-efficient, more discreet LED light panels.

Some of the heating and plumbing work is obvious, such as the placement of the mini-splits. Three will be installed upstairs at the base of the walls and two downstairs on the walls. Snaking around behind the scenes, in the hidden storage and furnace rooms, are new controls for the AC system, scads of new piping for the units as well as for a new sink area for the staff and meeting room, and more new electrical wiring.

Outside, in back of the library, the air conditioning condensing unit is being installed, as is its piping leading back into the building. The unit is placed below street level next to the mysterious hole in the brick wall. (Does someone know what it was for? I have theories but would love to hear yours.)

In the works right now are plans to repair cracks in the terrazzo flooring, the ordering of some new shelving and furnishings, preparation for installation of the children’s room flooring, and installation of a sink and cabinets for the staff and meeting rooms. Plumbing and electrical work continue.

Painting has been completed on the lower level. And all that is left upstairs are the walls in the front rooms of the library. The color “Sunrise,” a yellow gold, has been used as an accent in the rotunda and upper panels of the front two wings. (Mike from Baystate Painting has been super.)

We haven’t forgotten the operations of the library in the midst of this work. While all of this is going on, Sharin and I are working on current and future library projects; we are also thinking about putting our new space back together again! Our Board of Trustees and Pratt building committee continue to work on planning for obtaining Historic Tax Credits to help pay for our renovations. We are looking at new signage for our new space; our goal is to make the space more user-friendly in its new incarnation. In the next year we will also begin a new Strategic Library Plan and will need your help with that!

We greatly appreciate your patience. See you soon!

The library is keeping its regular hours, Mon. 1 p.m. – 7 p.m., Wed. 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Please use 413-512-3389 to contact us during the renovation.

The library will still offer interlibrary loans ordering and pick up, a small browsing collection of the latest adult fiction and non-fiction, children’s titles, DVDs, audiobooks, and our regular stash of newspapers and magazines. Books may be dropped off at our temporary location during open library hours, or, when we are closed, in the regular bookdrop beside the library's front steps.

We are encouraging people to make even more use of the interlibrary loan system, our other local libraries, and electronic media during this time period. If anyone needs assistance with any of the systems we are here to help. The bookdrop will be available in its regular spot to the left of the library.

We will periodically post photos on Facebook as the work progresses.