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Springfield Library Director Molly Fogarty defends decision to close and reuse Pine Point branch following plea from City Council to reverse decision

The Springfield City Council is urging the mayor and Library Commission to keep the Pine Point branch open as an important resource to the neighborhood.

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William Buchanon of Springfield works on a computer at the Pine Point branch library last summer before the site temporarily closed. The Library Commission is proposing to close the branch again and convert it to a community learning center.
 

SPRINGFIELD — Library Director Molly Fogarty and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno have defended plans to close two branch libraries after receiving a plea from the City Council on Monday to keep one open.

The council approved a nonbinding resolution Monday night by a 12-1 vote, “strongly urging” Sarno to drop plans to close the Pine Point branch on Boston Road. The Library Commission also plans to close the Liberty Street branch, with both branches expected to close in October and then be converted for other community uses, Fogarty and Sarno said.

Councilors and some Pine Point residents attending the council meeting said the branch is an important educational resource in the neighborhood and a safe haven for youth.

Sarno and Fogarty said the branch closings are necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of the libraries, and to allow the city to expand hours at the remaining eight branch libraries, as recommended by the Library Commission’s hired consultant, Stephen Spohn.

The library system now is too spread out under budget constraints, with inadequate branch hours, Fogarty said. With an expanded budget and the closure of two branches, the hours at the remaining eight branches will be expanded from 18 hours per week each to 30 hours per week, as recommended in the study, Fogarty said.

“We’re attempting to operate a library system spread across 10 library locations without adequate funding to accomplish this in a sensible, consistent and sustainable way,” Fogarty said in a prepared response to questions regarding the closure plan. “The result, as city budget difficulties continued, has been a system where all locations have been available to the public on a very limited basis, with residents often frustrated and confused about which libraries are open at which times in the course of a week.”

Ward 5 City Councilor Clodovaldo Concepcion, the lead sponsor of the resolution, and representative of a district includes that area of Pine Point, said closing the library would be throwing a poorer neighborhood “under the bus.”

“I’m going to fight it,” Concepcion said. “The people pay taxes. It’s a beautiful library.”

Sarno has allocated $4.1 million to the library system for the new fiscal year, starting July 1, reflecting a significant increase. It will allow the libraries to expand add 14 full-time equivalent employees to a current total of 70, with there being a mix of full-time and part-time staff.

In contrast, the library budget was initially $3,555,318 for the current fiscal year, that began July 1, 2012, resulting in the temporary closure of three branches last summer. Sarno and the council added $260,000 to the budget, allowing branches including Pine Point and Liberty Street to reopen last October.

The changes, including the closings and expanded hours, are not expected to take effect until October.

The Pine Point branch will be transformed into a Community Learning Center, Fogarty said. In addition, city officials are also in conversations with the School Department about the feasibility of having a continuum of adult education offerings that start with Read/Write/Now and ends with taking the GED test, she said.

There is also a plan to have a computer lab available to the public, Fogarty said. In addition, library customers who wish to have books delivered to the Pine Point library for pick up can continue to do so through a systemwide “holds service,” Fogarty said.

Gloria DeFillipo, of the Pine Point Community Council, said neighborhood is not high income, and many rely on the branch library for Internet access, books and educational resources.

“It’s a safe haven for our children,” DeFillipo said.

Councilor Timothy Rooke questioned why the city was closing a library that has the fifth highest usage of the 10 branches, based on statistics cited in the study, rather than choose a library with less use.

Ward 8 Councilor John Lysak said there are several schools in that area of Pine Point, and “it would be a shame to lose a library.”

Ward 2 Councilor Michael Fenton voted against the resolution, saying he supports the overall library plan because it will result in increased hours at the remaining branches, and reuses for the two closed libraries. One of the libraries set to close — Liberty Street, is within his ward, and Fenton said he is happy to “lead by example.”



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