Tag: MPLCP

Massachusetts Libraries Receive Prestigious Architectural Awards

The Woburn Public Library on a snowy night.
Woburn Public Library – Photo courtesy Andrea Bunker

By Lauren Stara, Library Building Specialist at the MBLC

Public library buildings are civic hubs and as such, they are often designed to serve as enduring symbols of public good. They are opportunities to demonstrate community values in the built environment. The Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program focuses on functionality and efficiency of library designs, but it’s a fact that inspiring and beautiful buildings are ones that people want to visit again and again.

For a library building, an architectural award is something to celebrate. This year, Massachusetts public libraries have received an unprecedented FIVE awards from the American Institute of Architects’ New England Chapter, and two of those buildings also received national recognition, receiving awards from the joint committee of the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association.

2021 AIA/ALA Building Awards

  • Boston Public Library – Roxbury Branch / Utile, Inc Architecture and Planning
  • Cambridge Public Library – Valente Branch / William Rawn Associates Architects

2021 AIA New England Design Awards

  • Best of the Boston Society of Architects
    • Woburn Public Library / CBT Architects
  • Honor Awards
    • Woburn Public Library / CBT Architects
    • Boston Public Library – Roxbury Branch / Utile, Inc Architecture and Planning
  • Merit Awards
    • King Open Schools Complex, which includes the Cambridge Public Library – Valente Branch / William Rawn Associates Architects
    • Eastham Public Library / Oudens Ello Architecture
  • Citation
    • Norwell Public Library / Oudens Ello Architecture

All of these buildings received funding from the MBLC through the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program, and we add our congratulations to all these libraries and their architects.

The Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program is pausing offering new awards for FY2021

By Lauren Stara, Library Building Specialist at the MBLC

Because of the uncertainty with municipal budgets brought on by COVID-19, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has decided not to award any new provisional grants in the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP) in Fiscal Year 2021.

A “provisional” grant means that a municipality has been awarded an MPLCP grant and has six months to secure the required local funds that make up the balance of project costs. A contract with the MBLC cannot be executed without this funding in place.

The two libraries that were scheduled for provisional grants in FY21 were East Bridgewater Public Library and the Jones Library in Amherst. These two libraries remain at the top of the waiting list and will be offered provisional grants in FY22. Please see the FY21 Construction Grant FAQ for more information.

This pause in the awarding of new grants will not affect the overall time frame of the waiting list. The projects that were originally scheduled for grants in FY22 will likely be delayed for one year, but subsequent years won’t be affected. As projects are being completed and final payments made on libraries going back to the 2010 grant round, as well as the grants awarded in 2017, we have eight grants that will be retired in FY21 and FY22. This frees up room in the annual cap for new projects.

The timing of grant awards is always in flux, because of two main factors:

  • The annual capital budget allotted to us in a given fiscal year by the Department of Administration and Finance may be the same as the previous year, but it may be increased or decreased. Each year we must cover payments to all the projects in process before awarding new grants.
  • The ability of municipalities higher on the waiting list to secure their local funds is unknown. If a project fails at Town Meeting, City Council, or an override vote, the grant funds from that project then become available to projects down the list. This means we move through the list more quickly. Even times of economic stability, we see a drop-out rate of about 25% in our waiting lists; in difficult economic times, historically the drop-out rate has been higher.

We will not have any trouble spending our annual cap this year because we can give partial payments to three projects farther down on the waiting list that have already started or completed construction. Note that this does not mean that these projects move to the top of the list.

The scheduling of grant awards is extremely complicated, and I encourage anyone with questions about this to contact me at lauren.stara@mass.gov. The mission of the MPLCP is to improve library services throughout the Commonwealth by improving library facilities, and there’s nothing we like more than successful projects. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everything, and we hope that this pause will help everyone, including ourselves, to move forward.