From the Daily Hampshire Gazette August 27 Editorial: South Hadley invests big in knowledge, community This week, residents of South Hadley can see what $10.1 million will buy these days if they stroll along a crushed gravel walkway and enter the doors at 27 Bardwell St., where a new chapter is beginning for the South Hadley Public Library. The handsome brick building straddles past and future. It stands not far from the town’s century-old library — one funded in part by $10,000 from industrialist Andrew Carnegie, a donation worth a quarter-million dollars today. The Connecticut River flows nearby before cascading over the historic Holyoke Dam, near the country’s first navigable canal. By building this impressive new library here in the Falls neighborhood, South Hadley is reclaiming the site of its earliest settlement, rather than moving to a newer, more suburban location. Inside, there is no doubt that library trustees and their director, Joe Rodio, wanted to embrace both past and present. The two-story, 22,700-square-foot space is a far cry from Carnegie’s library. After visitors come through the new front entrance, they are greeted by a cafe area and a community room before books even come into view. Some fret about the fate of libraries, now that knowledge flows from key strokes as well as thumbed pages. A team advised by National Library Relocations Inc. figured out how to move the 50,000-volume book collection down the street in a logical way. Circulating those volumes remains a big part of the library’s purpose. But on another level, the new library provides a place for residents of South Hadley to tackle community projects together. Here, parents can foster their children’s love of learning. Job-seekers can look for an edge. Everyone can wander about, led by simple curiosity, while admiring views through walls of glass. Without having to plan anything, people will run into neighbors, teachers, relatives, fellow church members and work colleagues. They will catch up, connect and make a stronger community. In two large separate spaces, the library offers special provisions for children and teenagers. Institutions like this are not social service agencies, but they serve their communities nonetheless by establishing places that help open young people’s minds and subtly connect them with their town. Last Saturday, children, some in strollers, formed a parade from the old library to the new, to the festive buzz of kazoos. The library’s Facebook page, meantime, has proudly displayed a photo of the “Bardwell Club” — three older friends in a clutch who sometime around Aug. 15 paid their last visit to the space. The library calls them three of its most dependable patrons and notes that the club will soon convene in a new space. It wasn’t easy for the town to secure $4.8 million from the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program, then line up other funding. At times, citizens grumbled about the cost. Some questioned the need to replace the old building. The building that stands at 27 Bardwell St. should put those questions to rest. By continuing to enlighten a mix of generations, whether with stories on the page or videos and databases online, libraries like this prove their worth anew.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:58:21 +0000
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