Bala Cynwyd Library Vote Delayed Despite Four-Hour Meeting

A lengthy, heated debate Wednesday night about whether to simply renovate Bala Cynwyd Library or fix the building and expand it yielded no vote by the Library Committee, which delayed action again.

The Library Committee meeting lasted four and a half hours, from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., and significantly delayed a Building and Planning Committee meeting, which was originally scheduled for 7:50 p.m. and was to be followed by a Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners meeting.  About 60 people were in the audience for the Library Committee meeting.

The first three hours of the Library Committee meeting were dedicated to the Bala Cynwyd Library proposal, which had already been continued from a previous meeting, and then another hour and a half was spent on other issues.

The Library Committee is trying to decide whether the township should renovate the Bala Cynwyd Library on its existing footprint for $4.45 million or renovate and expand the library space for $6.72 million.

Renovating the library on its existing footprint would involve addressing maintenance issues such as fixing the leaky roof and HVAC system, which have caused damage to the library’s materials, as well as making the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by adding an elevator, and bringing the fire sprinkler system up to code, said Christine Steckel, director of libraries for Lower Merion Township.   

When it comes to the $4.5 million estimate for the renovation-only project, “It should be noted costs could be higher by $200,000,” the township’s engineer, Edward Pluciennik of Pennoni Associates Inc. Consulting Engineers, told the library committee.

Steckel said that the renovation-only project would cost $2 million to $2.3 million less than the renovation and expansion project but the renovations would result in an overall space reduction of 5 to 10 percent, which limits space for people and collections. 

She also said that the renovation project was not the design to which campaign donors contributed, and because there are currently no designs for the renovation project on the existing footprint, it would cause a six-month delay in the reopening.

Steckel, who made a presentation about both library project proposals along with an architect and a township engineer, said the library staff recommends that the township solicit bids for the full renovation and expansion project.

The Bala Cynwyd Library has the fourth highest library circulation in Montgomery County and was circulating 381,401 items before the Ludington Library closed for renovations, said Steckel.

Circulation at the Bala Cynwyd Library has increased by about 11 percent since the Ludington Library closed, Steckel said.

The renovation and expansion project would include the renovations from the other proposal but also add 6,000 square feet to the library, said Jim Keller, a principal architect for Vitetta, an architectural, engineering, planning and design firm in Philadelphia.

The expansion would include an open, comfortable reading area; a glass-partitioned teen gathering and study space; 1,000 square feet of new space for early-childhood activity area and children’s service areas; and a book return room inside the library, Keller said.

Both proposals include the addition of an elevator, but the expansion would also allow for the circulation desk and the stairway to be relocated from the center of the first floor to the side of the space, in order to create a clear, visible and accessible entryway, Keller said.

Library officials and a library committee member said that the current location of the stairway is a problem and an obstacle in the building.  Moving the circulation desk allows library employees to better visually monitor the library for security concerns, Keller said.

Other libraries which have been expanded by Vitetta have experienced a 50 to 300 percent increase in circulation after the renovations, Keller said

“Part of that is the way items are presented,” Keller said.  “Everything is at eye-level, basically.”

After the project presentations were made by Keller, Steckel and Pluciennik, Library Committee members were allowed to ask questions. 

The questions did not end until shortly before 9 p.m., prompting Commissioner George Manos, chairman of the Library Committee, to defer commissioner comments and Wednesday night’s scheduled vote on the library project proposals until a later, unscheduled date.

Manos said he was delaying the vote so that members of the public could have the chance to comment on Wednesday.

Ten people, including residents and people who were affiliated with the Bala Cynwyd Library or Lower Merion Library system in some way, spoke in favor of or against the larger renovation and expansion project.

Irene Marks, president of the Bala Cynwyd Library Board, said she is in favor of the expansion project.

Marks said Bala Cynwyd needs a larger library because “it is packed afternoon, evenings, Saturdays. It’s crazy, crazy busy. It’s people reading, it’s people meeting.”

Marks said she and her husband had just donated $25,000 for capital library improvements.

Lower Merion Foundation President Charlie Bloom, a Haverford resident, referred to Mark’s donation when he spoke in favor of the library expansion.

Bloom, who is spearheading the library’s capital campaign, said donors had given their money to fund an expansion project and he was prepared to give them their money back if the Library Committee decided to fund the smaller project.

“I got a check tonight from Irene Marks for $25,000," Bloom said. "What do I do with all my donors? Do I give her check back if you go with a smaller project?”

Boom said the capital donation so far has collected $1.2 million in donations and received more than $800,000 in pledges.

Richard Kauffman of Bala Cynwyd said he was not in favor of the expansion but instead renovating the library to fix the problems because he was concerned about the cost and making sure all six Lower Merion libraries got renovated without going over budget.

“I’d like to buy a nice big car but sometimes you can’t,” Kauffman said.  “Sometimes you have to fit all six libraries into the budget.”

Resident Rosa Serota said she lives in Wynnewood but to her, “Lower Merion Township libraries are all my libraries.  I am in at least four libraries 12 times a week,” and when she was recently at the Bala Cynwyd library, she checked out 10 books.

Serota said she “absolutely” supports the expansion.

“I think it’s cost-effective,” Serota said.  “I know that it has to come.”

Bob Guzzardi of Ardmore said he was opposed to the expansion project because based on new technology such as iPads and Kindles, he did not feel that there was a need for a larger library.

“We’re going towards electronic reading. … If you’re planning for a library of the future, you’re planning for a smaller, brick and mortar building,” Guzzardi said.

Referring to the proposed expansion, Guzzardi said, “We are building a community center and that takes away from the argument that if we don’t support libraries, western civilization collapses.”