As some may be aware, the Cranbury Township Committee is holding a meeting on May 19th @ 7pm in the Cranbury School cafeteria (23 N. Main St). Time will be dedicated at this meeting for public discussion regarding the potential acquisition of the PNC Bank building located on Main St. One possible scenario for use of this building would be for free standing public library for Cranbury Township. We would strongly encourage you to attend this meeting regarding this important community issue.
We would also like to take this opportunity to provide some facts about the Cranbury Public Library:
- At this time the library has only a verbal agreement with the school on sharing the facility. The school could legally ask us to leave at any time. Both parties are in the process of drawing up a written agreement.
- The library pays no rent to the school but we do pay for custodial services on Saturdays and Sundays when the heat is on in the building. In turn, the public library shelves all the books, keeps the library tables and shelves neat and maintains the library server and databases shared by both libraries.
- Each library hires its own staff. The school staff does not serve the public. The public staff does not take responsibility for the students.
- Each library has a separate collection of books: School – 9,200. Public – 25,350 of which 9,470 are juvenile books.
- Each library has a different mission: School supports the curriculum. Public serves the public wants and needs.
- A joint public/school library was never approved by referendum. Instead voters passed a referendum for a school addition in 1966. This addition included enough space to share the school library with the public library.
- The library is currently hampered by a lack of sufficient space.
o We have limited staff work space and no separate work/storage room.
o The Gambino room serves as the staff lunch room, program room, meeting room, Friends storage and book sale area, and staff storage. The room is used for so many purposes it does none of them well.
o We have no room for large programs in the library unless we take over the whole library.
o We have no separate children’s area.
o Aisles, especially those in the children’s picture book area, are hard to navigate with a stroller.
o We have to discard books to add new materials. Any book that has not circulated in 2 years is a candidate to be discarded.
If you are interested in information about libraries in general, please check out these links to some great resources on the web:
http://www.njla.org/presskit/libraryfacts.html (New Jersey Library Association – Library Facts)
http://www.urbanlibraries.org/files/making_cities_stronger.pdf (Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development by the Urban Libraries Council)
http://www.ala.org/ala/alalibrary/libraryfactsheet/alalibraryfactsheet6.cfm (American Library Association – Library Fact Sheet # 6)
As always, if you have any questions about the library, please feel free to call the library or stop in the director’s office. We would also encourage you to post any feedback and comments you may have either to this blog, or in our online suggestion box on our homepage: http://www.cranburypubliclibrary.org
We’d love to hear from you!
I would like to point of the items below which are found in the 2007 recreation plan.
To summarize Cranbury already has plans in place for the library and options for parking as stated in the plan. How can we now suddenly be pursuing the PNC purchase with out a similar plan?
Page 28 of the report:
“In hindsight, the provision of a dedicated youth and/or senior recreation center for a Township with as small a population base as Cranbury—both at present and as anticipated at full build-out—appears to be unrealistic and economically infeasible. However, the long-term plans for Village Green includes the possibility of the library vacating its present space within the Cranbury school and building a standalone library across the parking lot just to the west of the tennis courts (see Chapter IV, Section B). Such plans may include the provision of a room for indoor recreation for seniors. The plans for moving the library to a standalone building is, however, not projected to occur in the foreseeable”
Page 39 of the report:
“The charrette was concluded with a broad consensus among stakeholders and residents that the Wright South parcel should be used for the following purposes:
• a regulation baseball field;
• land designated for a library/community center;
• an open town green; and
• land designated for additional vehicular access and parking.18”
Page 40 of the report:
“Finally, the Wright South property is particularly suited to its proposed use as a regulation baseball field because it is cleared, relatively level, and also because it is proximate to other school playing fields and the school/municipal parking lot. Finally, there is sufficient space on Wright South not only to develop the baseball field, but possibly provide for additional Township recreational facilities and
even possibly other municipal facilities, such as a standalone library.”
Page 115 of the report:
“b. Dedicated indoor recreation space (Intermediate to Long-Term)
To the extent that the Township vacates the space in the Cranbury School now used as the Township’s library and relocates it in a “standalone” facility across the parking lot on the Village Green property, the Subcommittee would support evaluating the needs for senior recreation at that time so as to
address the unmet needs by adding space for recreational purposes.”
Page 153 of the report:
Ms. Stave asked the Township Committee’s consideration to continue with the Babe Ruth SubCommittee, to be called now the Wright South Planning SubCommittee and indicating over time the composition of that SubCommittee may change as they begin to discuss the needs and planning for a free-standing library and community center. The Township Committee unanimously
approved Ms. Stave’s request.
I think we have a great little library and appreciate the efforts of the staff who maintain it. I love that it is attached to the school and as a result our family uses it much more than we have previous community libraries, not only because of the kids constant exposure to it but simple convenience since we parents have so many occasions to be at the school already.
I do not know why a community with 3,800 men, women and children from approximately 1,000 total households needs a bigger library independent of the existing one shared with the school. On the rare occasions when we need the benefits of a larger library currently we drive 5 minutes to Plainsboro. They are in the process of building an even larger library there, though they have the benefit of at least 5-times Cranbury’s population to support it. And it’s free to Cranbury residents.
I know there is a placeholder for a possible library/community center in the 2007 recreation plan – but the “possible” library proposed there is no more a plan than the “possible” library in the PNC building.
Jason,
Thank you for saying we have a “great little library.” I understand your feelings about liking the library being in the school. When my children were in the Cranbury School I too thought it was very convenient. But now that my children are grown and on their own I have a different perspective. For people like me, there are times when using the library is impossible because the school is having an evening function such as the science expo or a concert. Retired people like to use the library during the day and this is when the library is being used by classes. Often the library is not a quiet place for them to read our magazines and newspapers or to use the computers.
In the Strategic Plan written by the Library Board of Trustees in 2004 one of the priorities was to have a state of the art Library facility, separate but in proximity to the Cranbury School by the year 2010. A library located across the parking lot or at the PNC location would fit that requirement. We know the importance of the library being centrally located and easily accessible not only for school children and their families but for everyone.
The library facts posted above explain some of the reasons the staff and Library Board of Trustees feels a larger, separate facility is needed. More space is a large concern in the library now and could be a future concern for the school.
I’m glad you make use of the Plainsboro library. The reason you can use that library and other local libraries is because the Cranbury Public Library is a member of M.U.R.A.L., the Middlesex and Union Reciprocal Agreement Libraries. We participate by loaning our materials to their patrons too. The Cranbury Public Library has materials, especially on local history, that other local libraries, including Plainsboro, do not have. By the way, if you need a book the Cranbury Public Library does not own, we will get it for you through Inter-library loan.
“I know there is a placeholder for a possible library/community center in the 2007 recreation plan – but the “possible” library proposed there is no more a plan than the “possible” library in the PNC building.”
I think you hit the nail on the head – It’s about PLANNING. Yes, there is a proposal that the taxpayers already paid for by an independent agency along with Cranbury’s Planning Committee. All that is needed is to vote upon it by the TC to add it to our town’s master Plan.
There is a big difference in the proposed 2007 Recreation Plan and the PNC bank issues. Cranbury already owns the property in the Recreational Plan. In which cost the town $18,000 per acre. PNC will cost 1.4 million.
In conclusion, the PNC bank is not part of any plan and there is no consideration as to how the Cranbury taxpayers will be able to afford not only the purchase, but the renovation costs. All this on top of the COAH obligations. Just really bad timing with no planning.
Did you know that plainsboro master plan concerning their new village center has been slowly and methodically moving forward for over that last 9 years. Even the new library was part of that plan. It took them time to figure out financing, design, and proper timing to build.
Your right, the PNC building is not part of a township plan. How could it be? It is property that is privately owned. Sometimes circumstances change that require one to rethink even the best plans and possibly modify them.
If you read my post on “moving forward” you will see that in 2004 the Library Board began the planning process for a new, separate library. The Board and library staff will continue to follow the steps outlined in our 2004 strategic plan.