The city is currently in the planning and design phase for the Springfield City Library’s East Springfield branch expansion project.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield City Library’s East Springfield branch has received a $100,000 planning and design grant for its upcoming expansion project, which is set to take place over the next couple of years.
According to Springfield City Library Director Molly Fogarty, expansion is necessary because the library, which sits at 21 Osborne Ter., currently does not have enough space to host a lot of its programming.
When the library does host a program, Fogarty said staff needs to move furniture around to open as much space as possible for everyone participating.
“There’s really no programming space at all,” Fogarty said. “It’s really one small room broken up into a children’s area, a little teen area and a more adult area where the computers area.”
The limited space has also made it difficult for adults looking for a place to use a computer and for teens who want to utilize the space to collaborate on projects after school.
Fogarty told Reminder Publishing that she hopes the expansion project yields separate designated areas for adults and children as well as an expansion of computers so more people from the public can use them when they want to, because right now, there are only six computers that are usually always in use.
She added that, with greater space, the library can increase what they offer for patrons.
“Because we have a limited collection here, we’d like to expand the collection for adults, kids and teens,” Fogarty said.
The other concern with the library is the building’s old age. Because it was built in 1932, Fogarty said it is currently not accessible to those with disabilities or mobility issues.
“There’s a ramp in front of the building, but there’s no way you can get up that ramp in a wheelchair and get into that building,” Fogarty said. “It’s just too steep.”
According to Fogarty, the need for the library’s expansion was determined by a building conditions assessment that was done by the city’s Department of Capital Asset Construction.
“The determination was, yes, it’s a great condition; the city has done a great job maintaining the building,” Fogarty said. “It just needs more space.”
The $100,000 planning and design grant, which was awarded by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, will accompany a $150,000 matching grant from the city that was approved by the City Council in October 2023.
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners awarded a total of $1.3 million in planning and design grants at its January board meeting, according to the city’s announcement. The MBLC awarded the grants through its Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program, a state-funded program that works with local communities to “build, renovate and expand public libraries.”
These “standard grants” are for municipalities with populations over 2,500 and fall into tiers based on square footage submitted in the MPLCP application.
Fogarty said the combined $250,000 the library received will be used to hire an architect, who will help design what the expansion will look like. Once this planning and design phase is complete, which Fogarty said will probably be in spring 2026, the city will automatically receive its construction grant for the project.
Fogarty said construction of the expansion is projected to be finished by spring or summer 2027.
“We deeply appreciate this support from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the Healey-Driscoll administration and our state legislators toward our neighborhood library branches which are an integral part of our community,” Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a statement regarding this project. “I am proud of the fact that while other communities have consolidated their local library branches, my administration has worked hard with our local stakeholders and partnerships to not only renovate our neighborhood library branches, but to build new and expand them as well.”
In her own statement about the project, East Springfield Neighborhood Council President Kathleen Brown said that this project has been a dream that the community has been working on for “so many years.”
She added that this is “a great way to start 2025.”
“It’s great to know that the East Springfield Library will have what it needs to provide great library resources for many years to come,” Brown said.
Fogarty said she is excited that the East Springfield Library landed this grant since it is the last of the city’s branch locations to become renovated and accessible.
“There’s just been so much support from residents and the neighborhood council,” Fogarty said. “East Springfield is ready, and we’re just excited to get this going.”
