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Walk-in wireless internet access
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Davis Family Foundation Planning Grant Process2012-2013Please feel free to contact anyone on the committe with questions or call Molly Larson at the library at 236-3642. If you are on Facebook, please consider "Liking" our page to keep informed.
DVD of March 28, 2013 Community Library Planning Meeting now available at your library-Thank you Geoff Parker.
Thanks to the people who came out to provide public comment at the recent Select Board Meeting on April 8. In order of appearance... Bill Leone and Bob Holtzman. May - June 2013Letter from Rockport Public Library Committee
Public Comments from April 8, 2013 Select Board Meeting See Bill Leone's comments here (217k pdf) See Bob Holtzman's comments here (57k pdf)
February - April 2013You may remember we sponsored community activities focused on future planning for our library that took place a couple of years ago, and then the activities seemed to stop. There were many reasons for this, one being the loss of our beloved library committee member Mariann Lehmann, but now we are moving forward with the final stages of the grant from the Davis Family Foundation. Thankfully we were granted an extension to complete the study. The purpose of the grant was to discover what might be possible on our existing site at 1 Limerock and another site. I chose the RES (Rockport Elementary School East) site for the grant since it was the only other town-owned property and the future purpose of this land was being discussed. These studies were funded to help us find solutions to the space challenges we are facing. We look at this as a challenge, yes, but we also see it as a success story...that your community library is a vital and thriving place and is used more than ever before! We have managed to build on the hard work of all of the community members, board members, and staff throughout the years who have made the library what it is today. We honor that tradition. The purpose of this upcoming event is to bring the community up-to-date with where we are in the planning process. This community meeting is the final phase of the grant and the beginning of a process of finding solution. The grant allowed us to hire an architect to help us come up with a conceptual design. The firm chosen by the planning committee was Scott Simons Architects of Portland. Contrary to talk in the community, no decisions have been made yet. However, the library committee and the planning committee are seriously looking for solutions to our space problems. This is a process, and we now are seeking input from the Rockport community on a design concept.
Thanks to a grant from the Davis Family Foundation "Discovering the Possibilities" the funds received have supported an engineering study on our current site, focus groups, a survey, and now a conceptual drawing. The Grant was for $15,000. The engineering study confirmed that we have no where to build on this site. The last addition maximized that potential (and then some). We can't go up, down, or out due to our proximity to the stream. This building has had four additions and those additions solved the space needs for a time and have served us well. We now find ourselves at a crossroads once again, twenty years later from the last addition and this was predicted by the board and staff at that time. This is documented in Rockport's Comprehensive Plan. I sought these funds to support the costs of these activities as they are not normally part of our library budget. This phase of the study supported by the Davis Family Foundation will conclude at the end of March and will culminate in a design based on needs, the input of community and committee members and staff. Scott Simons Architects of Portland will be present at this meeting to facilitate, along with town officials, members of the staff, library and planning committees. Please join us! Light refreshments will be available and the event will be televised and recorded. Please call me at the library at 236-3642 with any questions or concerns. Thank you! Molly Larson Library Director Links of interest Library Newsletter Director's Corner column announcing the grant Winter 2010 Click on our Newsletters link on the menu bar. Most subsequent columns mention the library, the grant, and space needs. Press release of this event on PenBayPilot.com December 2012 - January 2013Update: The committee received a total of nine applications as a result of our Request for Qualifications Stuart Brecher Architects of Bar Harbor Port City Architecture of Portland Scott Simons Architects of Portland Stephen G. Smith Architects of Camden
The committee has chosen Scott Simons Architects of Portland. The support of this project is made possible through a successful grant application by the library director We were clearly choosing from the cream of the crop. Planning committee The director gathered a committee consisting of members of the library committee, this phase of the grant. In alphabetical order they are: Steve Beveridge - Director of Public Works Bill Chapman - Select Board Chair and Library liaison to the Library Committee Tom Ford - Planning and Community Development Molly Larson - Library Director Kathleen Meil - Library Committee Chair Pat Messler - Friends of Rockport PL Larry Novotney - Friends of Rockport PL Barrie Pribyl - Library Committee Richard Remsen - Rockport citizen and artistic consultant Jan Rosenbaum - Town of Rockport Budget Committee Mike Young - Public Works
Since our exploration of what is possible in 2010-2011 we have found from our survey that expansion on this site is not possible due to set back restrictions from the stream running next to the library. The last addition maximized any allowable increase in size. We cannot go up or out. The library committee continues to explore our options, including the old Rockport Elementary School (RES) site, for the future of the library. No decisions have been made but we are seriously exploring the possibilites. Thanks to the Davis Family Foundation for support on the site survey that took place in winter 2010/2011. The next phase of the grant will be to obtain a conceptual design based on the space and programming needs of the library and the needs of the community. November 2012 We have issued a Request for Qualifications (1.2 MB pdf) for a conceptual design made possible through a grant from the Davis Family Foundation.
Capital improvements Statement of Need to the Town Manager and Select Board by Molly Larson April 2012 Just a few of the areas of need are:
As she was unpacking new books, Library Director Molly Larson was caught unawares by a staff member with a camera. The office space where behind-the-scenes work happens is shared by several people and is inadequate, inefficient, and over-crowded.
We are always thinking of ways to maximze our space. Here Malcolm White retrofits existing shelves making them more portable so we can move them aside during programs. The ability to move the shelves helps with overcrowding issues for this room in the short-term. Malcolm's time and materials were paid for by an anonymous donor. Below I have retained the history of the prior two years of planning discussion: 2010-2011
This photo depicts attendees at a program where the crowd was spilling out from the Marine Room and into the stack area. The people in the aisle moved books to see through the shelves and into the Marine Room where their children and grandchildren were performing.
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Expanded bathroom facilities. These good-natured people were in line for the bathroom in early August and gave us permission to take their photo to illustrate the point that one bathroom no longer serves the needs of our patrons and staff. 
behind-the-scenes workspace 
Rockport Public Library Wordle