NEWS RELEASE

Grafton Public Library was awarded a partial Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP) provisional grant totaling $460,000 at the April 4, 2019 meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). 

The full grant amount for the project which has been on the MPLCP waitlist since July, 2017 is $7,435,041. Grants to libraries on the waitlist occur in rank order as funds become available. However, in order to meet spending targets established in the state’s five-year capital plan, the Board may offer a provisional award to a project further down the waiting list if that project already has local funding in place or if that project is already under construction. Grafton has already secured local match funding and the library is currently in final planning, with construction starting in the summer. It is scheduled to open in 2021.

The MBLC is currently seeking a new $250 million bond authorization to fund the projects that are currently on the MPLCP waitlist.  Grafton will receive the remainder of its grant award as funding becomes available through the new bond authorization. The bond will also fund a Planning and Design Grant Round and a new Construction Grant Round.

The Grafton Public Library project will renovate the original 1927 Georgian building and add more than 22,000 square feet in new space. This addition includes a children’s room, teen space, a refreshed collection, more computers, a community meeting room and more user conveniences in an environmentally friendly design.

The MPLCP was first funded by a state bond authorization in 1987. Since then, it has helped hundreds of communities build, renovate and/or expand their public libraries. MPLCP projects are currently underway in Erving, Monterey, North Dartmouth, Leicester, Sherborn, Springfield, and Weymouth.
For more information please visit the MBLC’s website.