Nahant Library Planning Committee moving forward with renovation plan

NAHANT – Planning and feasibility studies for the proposed library renovation project are moving forward.The Library Planning Committee received $40,000 in Community Preservation Act funds this spring to develop a long-term plan for the library.Librarian Daniel deStefano said the Library Planning Committee used the money to hire Mary Braney, who is a library consultant.?Most of the library problems stem from a lack of space,” deStefano said. “It’s like we’re always playing dominoes. You have to find a place to fit things in. To fit something in you have to move something else and then try to find a place for what you moved.”deStefano pointed out the Nahant Public Library was founded in 1819 and it is the third oldest public library in the state. He said the current facility was built in the late 1890s and has undergone few changes since it was constructed.?There is a tremendous need to upgrade the library,” he said. “It cannot serve a modern population as it is right now. There is no air conditioning and this summer we had to shut down all our computers for a couple of days because the computers were overheating.”The library is also not handicapped accessible, he said.The Library Planning Committee has developed a long-range plan, which will be submitted to the state Board of Library Commissioners.Library Trustee John Welsh serves on the Library Planning Committee, along with Betsy Wachtel, Nancy Whitman and Christine Stevens.That feasibility committee appointed by their Planning committee started meeting in July and it is preparing to submit grant applications for state funding. The state has a program, similar to its school building program, that funds library expansions and renovations.?The plan is pretty well completed,” Welsh said. “We’re just waiting for the state to open the next round of grant funding, which hasn’t been announced yet.”