Springfield community members, elected officials and library representaitves pose with the final check of the East Forest Park Library’s Promise Realized Campaign.
Photo credit: Focus Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — An eight-year fundraising initiative reached its official conclusion on Sept. 16 when the Springfield Library Foundation presented the final $137,500 of the East Forest Park Library’s Promised Realized Campaign.
First launched in September 2017 by the foundation, the campaign successfully raised $2 million across the last several years in support of a $9.4 million project to build a new East Forest Park Branch Library.
After 14 months of construction, and over 500 donors, the new 17,000-square-foot library officially opened to the public in 2022 on 146 Surrey Rd., with quadruple the space for book and media collections, technology access, a large community room, dedicated space for teens, accommodations for adult learners and a spacious children’s department.
“Our new East Forest Park library is a truly beautiful space, and also very popular and well-utilized,” said Mayor Domenic Sarno in a statement. “I want to sincerely thank the Springfield Library Foundation for their continued support of our East Forest Park Library. Because of their continued support and investment, the Promise Realized Campaign has been fulfilled, reaching $2 million.”
For Springfield Library Commission President Stephen Cary, fond memories from the former branch library — which occupied 4,100 square feet of rented space in a commercial strip on Island Pond Road — ultimately helped inspire the eventual buildout of the new standalone library.
He recalled the impact the June 1, 2011, tornado had on the Promised Realized Campaign.
“The promise emerged from the devastation left by that tornado we all remember from June 1st, 2011,” Cary said. “Ironically, out of that devastation arose this community building. We built a place that will continue to educate, to inspire, and to stimulate curiosity in generation after generation of children and their families.”
The Sept. 16 celebration also saw Springfield City Library Director Molly Fogarty reminisce about her days telling residents that the library on Island Pond Road was only temporary until they opened the new standalone one.
Instead of using a FedEx truck, she drove herself across the state in 2017 to submit grant applications to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners with hopes of securing money for the new library. The effort was successful.
“We got the grant; that was the final step in all of this,” Fogarty said. “And built this beautiful library.”
Fast forward eight years later, and the new Surrey Road space has already made its mark on the community. The library garnered 40,000 visitors in 2024, and 60,000 items were borrowed in that same year.
Fogarty also noted that the community room was used over 500 times in 2024, the study rooms over 1,000 times, and around 8,000 people utilized the library’s programs.
“The library is living; it brings people together,” Fogarty said. “People borrow books. People talk. People attend programs. And we are so thrilled to be a part of this community.”
That community will likely grow in the future, according to Springfield Library Foundation Executive Director Matt Blumenfeld, who explained the upcoming additions that are planned for the library.
He told the public on Sept. 16 that the foundation will provide $500,000 of support to the branch this year, which will fund adult programs, children programs, music programs and 200 Wi-Fi hotspots along with their data plans.
Blumenfeld said 180 of those hotspots are already out to help people “work, educate themselves and enjoy all the wonderful things on the internet.”
Aside from those efforts, Blumenfeld also said the foundation helps fund the library’s summer reading program and has plans to fund furnishes and upgrades at the Mason Square branch.
He shared that a facility like the East Forest Park Library Branch facility is one that will last 100 years.
“That’s one of the reasons why we want to be public with acknowledging donors,” Blumenfeld said. “In today’s world, we need good news. And that’s what today is. It is about fulfilling this promise and a community coming together, ignoring everything outside, and saying this is a vital project that’s going to last for decades. So, we’re here to celebrate that.”
