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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
This past Saturday, an event of incredible symbolic importance occurred on a wintry morning in Sherborn. The groundbreaking for the new Library took place, an event long anticipated and welcomed with extraordinary excitement. Recently, the Sherborn Library took up its temporary residence within the Community Center across the street. While library services are still available, the thought of the renovations beginning is an exciting prospect.
In attendance on the special morning was the Library Director, Elizabeth Johnston, local Trustee and member of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners Roland Ochsenbein, as well as Peter Bryley from the project’s design firm.
Johnston’s joy at the groundbreaking was palpable. She read a poem that she had written especially for the occasion, praising the benefits of libraries and her love for what they offer. Oschsenbein spoke afterwards, beginning, “It’s an absolute pleasure for me to be here today, representing Governor Baker and the Mass Board of Library Commissioners.” He understood the excitement held within this ceremony from personal experiences. “I was, myself, involved in a similar renovation project in my town and I was the first to tell the town in 2008. I was into it up to my ears, and I remember on the day of the groundbreaking, a thought occurred to me: ‘Gosh, this is real.’ This is really real now, we are committed to go after years of planning to get to this point. So congratulations!”
The Board of Library Commissioners grant to the project was for $3.6 million. This was supplemented by $1 million from the town, as well as privately raised funds. The renovations will bring the building up to code in regards to the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building codes for energy efficiency. “Libraries are extremely important, and all you have to do is spend a few minutes in the children’s section of a library to understand the importance of everything the library does,” Oschsenbein concluded.
Oschsenbein was followed by David Lynchburg, who worked on library updates in both Newton and Millis. “Libraries are important today because they are repositories of facts and repositories of science, which is really important in today’s world!” he said.
The groundbreaking began shortly after, and anyone from the crowd who had been involved in this project was invited up to help out.
The library is expected to re-open late December of this year or early January of 2018.
