It seems like I’ve been here before. Last year about this time the Rockport Library Committee (RLC) presented a plan to the Select Board to build a new 14,700 square foot library at a cost of $3 to $5 million on the RES West Street site. This decision was made because the RPL reported they could not expand at the current site because of zoning restrictions, “ we can’t build up or out.”

Their grand plan was met with major opposition this town has not seen in years. The Select Board was presented with a 112 signature petition in objection to moving the Library to West Street. Also at that meeting, it was discovered that a simple zoning change would allow for expansion at the current site. The voters approved this change last November clearing the way for expansion on the current site. As a result of the overwhelming opposition, the Select Board (to their credit) asked the Library Committee to rethink their position. So, one would think this was the end of the plan to move the Library to West Street.

Here we are a year later (this is the déjà vu part), after the RLC conducted a poorly attended "listening tour" and called for a Steering Committee to study the various possible expansion sites in Town, they surprisingly came up with the only possible location for a new library. You guessed it, the RES site and I’ll bet you can guess the size and cost of a new library, 12,000 to 14,000 square feet with a cost of $4 million. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Now, the people involved in this proposed expansion project are all good well-intended folks who have put a lot of time into this idea but have sadly produced a product very few actually want. I know something about the process because I have followed it very closely and in fact was asked to serve on the Steering Committee. I was compelled to resign my position early on because I could see the criteria used would only lead to the selection of the RES site and I could not support moving the Library from its current location

A lot of people in Rockport feel that moving theliibrary from the downtown location would be a terrible mistake. If you were to ask ten city planners about taking a library out of a central down town district they would say you better think long a hard about the consequences of doing this. With the prospects of CMCA moving and the Rockport Public Library you can expect the downtown to suffer. The central business district and the harbor are what attracts people to Rockport. I don’t think folks will flock to Rockport to visit the intersection of Route 1 and West Street.

Think about this: Rockport’s population has not changed for decades and remains at about 3,300. How is it possible we now need a library four times the current size. Where will the money come from to pay for this large building and pay for the ongoing expenses to equip and operate a building four times the size of the current library?

The RLC expects to raise half of the costs from donations and half from bonds. So do the math. If they say the budget to build a new building is $4 million, and you divide it by the 1,400 households in Rockport that computes to $2,800 per household. That breaks down to $1,400 by donation and $1,400 debt on a bond. Now we know some people will make large donations and some will not support this project at all but this illustration shows how this project is real money and all residents will be affected.

Finally, after all the hard work the RLC has done I don’t think they have made a very good case for the need to build a 14,000 sq. ft. $4,000,000 library. I believe the vast majority of library users are very satisfied with the service provided and I know the staff always gets accolades and they should. The current library maintenance has been neglected for years and needs immediate attention. An additional bathroom is needed, more office space, better and more efficient book stacks, better use of the Opera House and other town venues for meeting space and better dedicated and managed parking.

All these issues are easily corrected with a sound business plan. Let’s stop this folly and focus on making these modest improvements to the existing Library and move on.

We are going to need your help again on this subject.  The Library Committee is making a request to the Select Board to put a referendum on the November ballot. It most likely will be a simple question: Do you favor building a new library at the RES site. The Select Board meeting to discuss the ballot question is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, July 14, 2014, in the Opera House meeting room. Please plan to attend and let your thoughts be known on the possibility of this referendum.

Thank you.

Bill Leone lives in Rockport.