Chestnut Hill Library not likely to follow the renovation trend

Posted 8/16/18

The new Springfield Township Library. by Sarah Allessandrini Mt. Airy’s Lovett Memorial Library and the Springfield Township Library, both within a two-mile radius of the Chestnut Hill Library, …

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Chestnut Hill Library not likely to follow the renovation trend

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The new Springfield Township Library.

by Sarah Allessandrini

Mt. Airy’s Lovett Memorial Library and the Springfield Township Library, both within a two-mile radius of the Chestnut Hill Library, reopened this year after undergoing major renovations.

Will the Chestnut Hill Library get a similar upgrade any time soon? Not for at least a decade, according to the Free Library of Philadelphia. Does it need one? Maybe not, according to the Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library.

Phyllis Donahue, President of the Friends of Chestnut Hill Library, said that the library prides itself on maintaining the traditional library setting with lots of books and a quiet atmosphere.

“I’m not sure that Chestnut Hill wants to change in the same ways that Lovett did, and I’m not sure that it needs to,” she said.

Lovett was closed for 20 months for renovations, according to Lovett’s Branch Director Marsha Stender, which included the time it took to clear out the library, obtain all necessary permits and hire contractors. According to Stender, the public has come back “full force” since the library reopened on Dec. 15.

“You get the WiFi signal outside the building, so when we close on a nice night there might be someone sitting outside at nine o'clock working on a laptop,” said Stender. “Most days I come to work and there are people outside doing a variety of things. They might be playing chess, reading a book, kids might be running around or there might be a camp group playing in the park space.”

The new Lovett Library now has more than 20 computers—the old library had six or eight—as well as outlets throughout the building to plug in charging cables for devices, three big screen TVs for presentations and a smaller one in the new closed study room.

Another new feature of the Lovett Library is the addition of the Storytime Room in the back of the Children’s Section, which according to Stender gives Lovett “tremendous flexibility.” Toys found in the children’s section now include legos, circuit boards and other gadgets that can light up, ring or buzz. While the Children’s Section of the library can be noisy at times, Lovett now has a new Quiet Zone for patrons wishing to work in solitude, “because the kind of things that are now seen as educational and enriching to kids’ lives includes things that aren’t quiet.”

“We have options for people,” said Stender. “So they can do whatever it is they need to do in an environment they find welcoming.”

Similar to Lovett, the Springfield Township Library has seen significant activity since its reopening on Jan. 22 of this year.

Marsha Stender (right), Lovett Library's branch manager, shows an employee around the new library. (Photo by Sarah Allessandrini)

“People are coming in that have lived in this area forever and never came to the library,” said Mary Catherine McGarvey, Executive Director of the Free Library of Springfield Township. Groundbreaking for the new Springfield Library building took place on Mar. 17, 2016. Amenities in the new building include a cafe with a vending machine, linoleum floors in the children’s section so it’s easier to clean up spills and messes, movable bookshelves that can be moved to make room for big events and a big community room with a kitchenette, so organizations can host a meeting with food. Since its reopening, the Springfield Library has had 864 different groups not sponsored by the library using their new community room.

“People always said they wanted community space,” said McGarvey. “They didn’t want an exercise place or a gym, they wanted a place where they could meet and not have to get a membership type thing.”

According to McGarvey, the decision to remodel the Springfield Library was made in 2007. By 2012, after stress testing the building, the decision was made to replace the it. The old library, which was located at the site of Springfield’s current public works building, was about a third of the size of the new one.

“ was 50 years old,” said McGarvey. “The problems were very evident.”

Springfield Library opened in 1966 and Lovett was first opened in 1865. The Chestnut Hill Library opened in 1904 and became a branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1994.

The Springfield Township Library is part of the Montgomery County system, not Philadelphia, but any Philadelphia resident can use his or her Free Library of Philadelphia card at a Montgomery County Library. Also, anyone who lives in the state of Pennsylvania can obtain a Free Library of Philadelphia Card, so a Springfield resident can obtain a Free Library card at no cost to use at the Chestnut Hill Library, Lovett Library and any other Philadelphia Library in the system.

Lovett was one of five branches renovated under the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Building Inspiration: 21st Century Libraries Initiative, which was adopted in 2015 after the city of Philadelphia substantially increased the Free Library’s budget. These five libraries were Lovett, the Logan Library, the Lillian Marrero Library, the Tacony Library and the South Philadelphia Library, which was part of a joint project with CHOP.

“We decided that we would like to put into place a model for renovating our neighborhood libraries to represent how modern day library service is changing the way people use libraries,” said Siobhan Reardon, President and Director of the Free Library of Philadelphia. When asked about the Free Library of Philadelphia’s future plans, Reardon said that they are in a stage called a “refresh,” which was approved by the board earlier this year. The refresh will carry the library through the next three years until a full strategic plan is initiated in early 2021. Now that the 21st Century Initiative is complete, the Free Library is currently working on their new Rebuild Initiative.

“The next phase of Rebuild will be good restorations, but they won’t be on the line of 21st centuries. Rebuild doesn’t have the resources to go that far,” said Reardon. The 21st Century Initiative was made possible by a historic $25 million grant from the William Penn Foundation as well as contributions from the Knight Foundation and other private individuals. All together, Free Library had raised $38 million to renovate the five libraries. The renovations for Lovett cost approximately $8-9 million, according to Sandra Horrocks, the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Vice President of External Affairs. This renovation was the most expensive out of the five renovated libraries because of the addition to the building.

The last time the Chestnut Hill Library underwent any serious renovations was back in 1991, when an addition was added to the building. According to Reardon, the Chestnut Hill Library is not in the early goings of the Rebuild Initiative, but that’s not to say it won’t show up by year three or four. Rebuild is a six-year initiative, and the 64 current projects, 13 of which are library restorations, are for years one through three.

Stender pointed out that, with new non-traditional aspects such as noisy play areas and food, libraries of today are more like community centers than the libraries of 50 years ago.

According to Donahue, the Friends have recently been looking to gain more use from the library’s community room, and have considered purchasing a laptop cart. The Friends are able to contribute financially to the library with funds earned from membership fees as well as the book sale.

But one problem the library does face is that it lacks an adult librarian, which is to be assigned by the Free Library of Philadelphia.

“We have been at a disadvantage lately because we are understaffed,” said Donahue. “I don’t think the community realizes how understaffed we are.” Without an adult librarian, the Chestnut Hill Library does not have as many adult programs has it has had in the past. This librarian is expected to be assigned by the end of the summer.

The Springfield and Lovett Libraries underwent changes to suit the needs of their individual communities. While these libraries have become more active community spaces, the Chestnut Hill Library remains a quiet escape from the bustle of the avenue.

“There’s room for both,” said Donahue. One benefit of residing within the domain of the Free Library of Philadelphia is that a resident of Chestnut Hill may use either the Chestnut Hill Library or Lovett Library.

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