NEWS RELEASE

At their February 1, 2018 board meeting, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners awarded provisional construction grant awards to the Erving Public Library in the amount of $2,720,146, and the Monterey Library in the amount of $1,855,675. Both libraries were placed on the construction waiting list during the July 13, 2017 board meeting when the first round of project grants was approved.

The grants provide crucial funding that enables the libraries to meet the growing demand for services. Statewide, attendance at public library programs has increased 49% since 2006 and every 5.5 seconds a Massachusetts resident accesses the Internet through a public library.

The Board also approved Library Green Incentive awards for each project that receives LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. They will receive 2-3.5% of the grant award in additional state funds administered by the MBLC.

Two communities were unable to accept grants awarded in July, making it possible for the Commissioners to award provisional grants to Monterey and Erving. The Board is awarding these grants in accordance with 605 CMR 6.10 (5) that allows the Board to offer provisional grant awards to projects further down the Waiting List if that project already has local funding in place or if that project is already under construction.  Both communities have already secured the local funding match needed to accept the grants.

Currently five communities from the grant round, Springfield, Weymouth, Dartmouth, Hadley, and Norwell, have accepted their provisional grants and have moved ahead with their projects.

Thirty-three libraries applied for construction grants through the MBLC’s construction program. Twenty-two libraries remain on the waitlist and will receive construction grants as the funding becomes available either through the existing bond bill or a future bond authorization.

MPLCP library building projects are currently underway in Leicester, Sherborn, Stoughton, Webster and Woburn. Hopkinton recently completed a project.

Funding for the MPLCP is authorized by the governor and the legislature. Funding for this grant round is part of the general governmental needs bond bill filed in March, 2013 which included $150 million for the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program. This funding was also used to award construction grants to 11 communities that had been on a waitlist for several years and will be used to support a future Planning and Design grant round.

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: https://mblc.state.ma.us/