|
Show your support
|
Foundation newsThere's a lot going on at the foundation. Here are some highlights: One Book One BelmontJanuary/February 2008: Belmont's first community-wide reading program focused on Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea. There were six weeks of programs about Pakistan and Afghanistan, focused on the politics, people, art, religion and culture of this important part of the world. Mortenson's talk was the culmination of the program, and he talked about building schools to educate boys and girls in these countries. (Read more about Mortenson's work at his Web site.) The Foundation co-sponsored this event, which attracted 1100 people to Belmont High School. It showed that libraries do build community! If you missed it, watch the video of Greg Moretenson online. Library of the Future forumMarch 2007: An open forum to discuss how our Belmont Public Library can meet the demands of the 21st century. A panel of experts in technology, education, youth library services and library science will discuss the changing roll of the community library, and what spaces and services the Belmont Public Library will require to be able to meet our evolving school, work, and personal requirements for information and learning. Presented by the BLF. March 26 at 7:30 PM in the Assembly Room at the library. MBLC Approves Belmont's Grant Application2008: Belmont is now #8 on the grant queue and we're waiting for the state to authorize the funds. 2007: In a meeting at the Belmont Memorial Library, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) announced the funding of the first few libraries on the list, moving Belmont up to #10 on the list. They also announced that they plan to increase grant amounts by 15%, to cover increasing costs. This brings Belmont's expected grant amount to $5.3 million. 2005: The Belmont Library Trustees submitted an application for a state construction grant in February 2005. The MBLC approved the grant application in June 2005 and placed the town 13th on the waiting list. Funds from the award will be used to construct a new main library building on Concord Avenue. Schematics for the proposed design are availble online and in the library. The position on the waiting list is a reflection of a number of factors including the quality of the application, community size and a balancing of economic factors. Belmont is in line to receive $4,629,186, but there is no way to know when the state will make the actual grant award. It depends on how long it takes the legislature appropriating the funds. Town Meeting approves grant application and preliminary design conceptApril, 2005: Annual Town Meeting unanimously approved the Trustees' application for a state construction grant award of $4.6M (see below). State grant applicationThe Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners announced a grant round for new library construction (details of the program, at the MBLC site). After careful planning and study, the Trustees submitted an application on February 9, 2005 along with 40 other communities. The schematic design is included in the application, which could bring $4.6 million for library construction. The Foundation will raise private funds to ease the impact of the building project. The Trustees and the Foundation recognize that the town has a large number of capital projects planned. The MBLC grant awards will be announced in July 2005, but will not be funded all at once. They will establish a funding queue, and we do not expect to receive a grant award for a number of years. In the meantime, the Foundation will work on raising private funds to reduce the cost to the town FundraisingThe Dustan Library Leadership Challenge is a $250,000 challenge gift set up by the estate of Jane Gray Dustan, who was a long-time library supporter.The challenge has been met, establishing a great start for the Foundation's fundraising. Read more about the Dustan Challenge. Feasibility studyThe Trustees hired J. Stewart Roberts Associates, an architectural firm with extensive library experience. They have completed a feasibility study, which explored six options for upgrading the main library. The result is an exciting schematic design for a new library. (See other libraries that they've designed, at their Web site.) You may have heard about a proposed land swap between the pool and the library. The architects found a way to design a new building on the current space that meets the Belmont's needs well into the future. This lets the Library Trustees get started on the new library project, while the Recreation Commission can take longer to think about needs for the pool. It also eliminates a number of approvals that would have been needed to make changes to recreation land (the pool area). In the newsRecent stories in the news, from Belmont's Citizen-Herald unless otherwise noted.
|