Letters on New Canaan Library Rebuilding Project

NewCanaanite.com received the following letters regarding the New Canaan Library rebuilding project. 

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Dear New Canaan Community,

During the early days of quarantine this spring, the staff of the New Canaan Library sent out 1,000 handwritten notes to our supporters and loyal donors. I hope you got one. We rely heavily on the wonderful generosity of the community every year. The library receives robust support from the community, which in turn helps maintains excellent service, stimulating programing and brilliant collections. The popularity of the library and demand for our programs has eclipsed the capacity of our current facility. 

I have served several terms on the Board of the Library over the last 19 years and stayed involved even when not on the Board. Collectively, the dedicated library staff, board members, town council, and community participants have spent over 10 years planning and developing our new building. Library supporters know that this plan has been carefully considered and gone through rigorous reviews over the past decade. An early iteration designed by Robert Stern Partners envisioned the new Library behind and connecting to the Town Hall. After we received strong feedback that the community preferred the library to remain at its current location, we hired Connecticut-based Centerbrook architects to develop a plan in line with the scope and location of the amended project. To support this new plan, the library worked strategically for years to raise funds to acquire the parcels of land adjacent to the Library.

From the outset of working with Centerbrook, the Library called together a wide representation of community members and library users to solicit ideas helping shape the future of the new building. These workshops, in addition to careful financial analysis and consideration, provided the basis for the design and functionalities of the current plan. In two years of dedicated fundraising, more than 150 families have pledged $16 million to the project. During this fundraising effort we met with hundreds of community residents, including those who favor historical preservation, and frequently consulted town officials. The overwhelming consensus of these meetings was in support of the design as created.

The Board and Library staff travelled to peer libraries in Fairfield and Westchester counties and even New Jersey. We studied recent neighboring library renovations to understand where their successes and failures were. Every Board member I have had the honor to serve with has been dedicated and diligent in their pursuit of the Library’s mission to be the center for lifelong learning in our town. Our hard work and due diligence, including detailed estimates from a well-known quantity survey company, detailed cash flow documents developed by construction professionals, rigorous analysis of fundraising and cash flow projections have enabled us to secure a line of credit to ensure liquidity if required during the term of the project.  The Board and the staff are more than cognizant of the need to be excellent stewards of our donated and granted resources. Our budget is developed annually in consultation with town bodies.

New Canaan has a strong history of supporting bold public initiatives including the investment in Waveny Park and later the town pool. The town supported a $20 million dollar purchase of the Irwin property in 2004. In comparison, the $10 million dollar investment in the New Canaan Library is well worth it. Now is the time to proceed with this project to provide our town with a Library that reflects the standard of excellence our community deserves as we embrace the challenges of our new world.

Very sincerely, Anda Hutchins 6/29/20

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Dear Editor, 

It is wonderful to see our town working together to bring New Canaan back strong.  This community pride is a key reason my husband and I moved here 23 years ago and over those years we have been especially impressed with the public/private partnerships benefitting our town.  Our New Canaan Library is one such partnership.  While many towns have municipal libraries entirely supported by town funding, ours is a partnership which allows for greater programmatic flexibility, creates less of a burden on town coffers, but creates more of a burden on library fundraising efforts.  Despite this hurdle, Lisa Oldham and her team have raised the bar year after year, delivering amazing programs and new services free of charge.  These enhancements have driven up the number of library users and changed the way residents use the library but more importantly, they have stressed an already aging building which can’t accommodate all of the new demands.  Couple the Library’s annual fundraising requirement and mounting maintenance bills with world-class services that have outgrown their space and you’ll understand why New Canaan needs a new library now.  

I appreciate that not everyone is in favor of the Library’s new plans.  Having personally attended the early focus groups, I saw firsthand how hard it was to have everything.   But I was also impressed at how many perspectives were represented, how many discussions and how much analysis were part of the design process and how the Library strived to be inclusive.  If cost was no constraint, we’d be having a different conversation, but cost is a factor and there are trade-offs as a result.  The Library was tasked with designing a world-class building that would fit on their property and one that could be built at a cost they could afford.  They now have the plans, over half the needed fundraising, are still engaged in ongoing fundraising and have procured a bank loan for bridge financing until fundraising is complete.  All that remains is the Town’s contribution.  While our elected officials have received the Library’s plans enthusiastically, they have also taken their civic duties responsibly, have done their due diligence and have allowed public discourse around their proposed $10MM commitment.  They are now close to an MOU with the Library which provides Town officials with comfort and oversight that the project will reach fruition as planned. This library project is happening and it will be an amazing resource for our residents and local businesses.  A landmark example of the best in public/private partnership.

I applaud Lisa Oldham and her team for being forthright, responsive to Town requests and steadfast in her commitment to the Library’s future.  She inspires all of us every single day.  And I thank our Town Officials who have spent considerable time engaging with all parties involved in this important decision for our Town and gathering the information needed to make the best decision for our community’s future.  

With gratitude,

Kristin Selvala

New Canaan Library Capital Campaign Committee Member

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As a member of the Library Board, I have been involved with the New New Canaan Library for the past two years.  I have been privy to the planning, the thoughtfulness, the rigor, the professionalism, the research and the enthusiasm with which the Library Board, its staff, so many others in town, and our elected officials have received and embraced the project.  

Although I had intended to watch from the sidelines as the new building proposal wound its way through the town boards and questions were appropriately presented, the recent back and forth has prompted me to weigh in.  While I understand the need for an exacting financial review of the project and believe that public debate is valuable, I fear that the real importance of what the library means to our community has gotten lost in the rancor.

We could go back and forth on numbers – people through the door, circulations, comparisons with other local libraries, data trends, economic impact statements, etc.  But isn’t the real issue a more heartfelt one, a recognition of what the library provides to our community and, in turn, what we desire for ourselves, our children, our parents and our friends from the library as a social, learning and professional hub as we look to the future?  In the 30 years that we have lived in town, I have attended at least 500 different library events.  They have ranged from bird watching, to short story clubs, to cooking classes, to computer skills, to countless book talks and speakers on a myriad of topics, and most recently, nearly nightly webinars and an online Coursera program expertly organized and moderated by the library.  My daughters have met with tutors, studied with friends, and joined in knitting, theater and French conversation workshops at the library.  We have all sought shelter from the storms (figuratively and literally) when we used the library as our warming and charging station, and most recently when we struggled to stay connected during the pandemic.  And all of these, except our recent virtual experiences, have taken place in a severely comprised building that is out-dated, shabby, floods, leaks, and is bursting at the seams.  Imagine what our new library will offer with space (indoor and outdoor) for all, young and old.

Much has been made in the press of “hidden” costs associated with the new building, along with suggestions that somehow those presenting on behalf of the library have been misleading the public.  Not only is this line of argument deeply insulting, it is also inaccurate and incendiary.  We may not all agree on all of the aspects of the new library proposal, but if I have learned nothing else through witnessing the vetting of this project, it is that our town government has keen oversight, as it should, and that those acting on behalf of the library do so for the greater good of the town and have spent years and countless volunteer hours examining these issues.  Rather than impugn, we should hold in the highest regard those who are looking out for our best interests, both holistically and financially, and trust in their reasoned analysis.

I think back on the Town Council and Board of Finance meetings when many on those governing bodies first saw the New New Canaan Library video.  The enthusiasm and support for the project in the room was palpable.  I fear that the recent focus by a vocal minority on the old library “building” has distracted us from the greater good that the library as a whole provides and the incredible excitement that the new library will bring to town. As I have read with dismay over the past weeks the escalating public debate in the press, I have thought often of Tom Butterworth’s words on a recent Advertiser coffee zoom call.  He reminded those on the call that the movement to save the old library, a position he very much aligned with, had had an opportunity to be heard. I believe Tom used a baseball analogy and said he had been given a chance in the batter’s box and had “struck out” and now it was time to move on.  Tom may not be aware of our connection, but he is kind of a hero in our house – he was a mentor to my daughter years ago when they both participated in the Town Players.  I am glad that we had the opportunity to hear from different points of view and I welcomed Tom’s reasoned proposal. But, to continue with Tom’s analogy, I don’t think he struck out.  Rather, I think after considering, and ultimately rejecting the concept of linking the approval of the new library with preserving the old section of the library, our town has strongly endorsed the plan that was originally presented to them by the Library. Having had the opportunity to hear from all sides, we are now better positioned to “hit it out of the park” and build a stunning new library that will be a place for all for many years to come.

Respectfully submitted,

Deborah Gordon

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New Canaan is finally being presented with a long-awaited opportunity.  With New Yorkers fleeing to suburbs in reaction to fears about Covid-19, rentals in New Canaan and surrounding Fairfield County towns are booming. Realtors and business owners are poised to translate this activity into a resurgent spring market, but we need Town to invest in the assets that make New Canaan attractive to our residents, new home buyers and businesses. This is the time to act on projects such as the New New Canaan Library and Library Green. This project not only provides world class offerings that appeal to all potential homeowners from young families to empty nesters, but it will enhance the sense of community and downtown village that sets New Canaan apart from competing towns.

Our downtown, like many others, has been beset by challenging retail trends. This project is a positive story that complements our leading school system and strong community so that we can translate this opportunity into real change.

It is well-documented by towns and cities throughout the world that updating public libraries to meet the needs of modern communities provides a positive return of between $4-6 on each state and local dollar invested. In an independent study, Advance CT examined over 50 library construction projects throughout the state and estimated that New New Canaan Library project will generate a similar positive economic impact.  This project is just the type of smart economic development that New Canaan needs to reinvigorate our downtown and compete with neighboring towns that offer these types of assets.

The opportunity is now. We call on the Board of Finance and Town Council to act in the best interest of our town and invest in projects like the New New Canaan library that enhance our comparative value and provide economic returns for our entire community.

Sincerely,

The New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

[Submitted by Tucker Murphy.]