NEWS RELEASE

On September 1, excited residents of the town of Scituate gathered as the Scituate Public Library broke ground on its renovation and expansion project. The project will add 7,000 square feet of space and update the current library building.

The project is funded in part by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP). The library received a $4,985,480 provisional grant in 2012 and the project began in 2013 after the town approved a $12 million debt exclusion. Additional money has been raised privately through the town’s library foundation.

Les Ball, head of the Scituate Library Foundation, noted that his organization's donation of $800,000 is the largest gift of a nonprofit ever to be given to the town of Scituate. He also told the story of Megan, a young girl from Scituate who in lieu of birthday gifts took donations from friends and was able to donate $250 to the cause.

State, local, and library officials, as well as MBLC commissioner Mary Ann Cluggish, joined Scituate residents to celebrate the town’s hard work and support of the project.

"This is a boom time for libraries," Cluggish said. "More people visit Massachusetts libraries each year than attend entire seasons of the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics combined."

Representative Jim Cantwell (D-Marshfield) and Senator Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) presented the library with a joint citation congratulating them on the occasion.

"The South Shore has benefited from this program," Hedlund said, citing the MPLCP.

Representative Cantwell spoke of his mother Arlene, a teacher for 26 years. "Every time I come to a library it’s like a homecoming," he said.

The renovation is designed by Boston-based architects Oudens Ello and is expected to be completed in late 2016. In addition to the new floor space, there will be a complete structural and mechanical upgrade as well as the creation of a fully ADA accessible building.

Photos from the event can be found at the MBLC Flickr and Facebook pages.

Funding for the MPLCP is authorized by the governor and legislature. With support from the MPLCP, projects are currently underway in Edgartown, Framingham, Hopkinton, Reading, Salisbury, Shrewsbury, Stoughton, Webster, and West Springfield. An additional 21 communities are in the planning and design phase.

The MPLCP was first funded in 1987. Since then, the program has assisted hundreds of communities in building new libraries or in renovating and expanding existing libraries. For more information about the program, please visit the MBLC's website.