Grant Application and Appendices
Warrant Article (Annual Town Meeting, April 2018)
Final Report of the Library Planning Committee
A partial list of other documents considered by the Committee:
The proposed size – 33,530 square feet – is based on Wayland’s Library Building Program, a statement of space needs developed using national and state library standards.
The proposed library is consistent in size with neighboring town libraries, and with libraries in towns with similar populations. The design adds more space to accommodate an expected increase in usage from Middle School students. It also includes room for future expansion.
A number of reasons:
– Schools: The new location is adjacent to the Wayland Middle School and will offer middle school students ready access to study space and resources appropriate for them. It’s also close to two of the three elementary schools and the high school and will offers resources and spaces for these age groups too. The location next to the middle school and the recreation parcel will allow synergy between uses of these departments with the library.
– Activities: Hannah Williams Playground and Cochituate Field are nearby which offers multiple activities within close proximity to the library too.
– People: The location in this densely populated area allows more people to walk and bike to the library.
– Driving: The site is easy to drive to, it has space for far more parking and will offer a level parking area.
There is a preliminary design that calls for a 33,530 square foot facility that will have:
– Quiet study spaces and seating
– A separate larger children’s room
– Dedicated space for teens and young adults
– A meeting/program room with 100-seat capacity
– And many more amenities
Now that Wayland has the grant, the interior layout of the spaces can and will be changing.
Architects and engineers determined the current location can’t be expanded because it is on a small parcel of land that won’t support an expansion. The Library’s current parcel is in Wayland’s “Aquifer Protection District,” which allows a maximum of coverage of 30 percent of the land. The Library’s coverage is already well over that.
The time from the grant award to opening a new library building is generally four years, so a new library could be open in 2021!
Check out our timeline here:
https://waylandlibrary.org/new-building-and-plann…/timeline/
The Library Trustees submitted an application in January 2017 for state funding to help pay for a new library. Out of the 33 cities and towns that applied for a state construction grant, Wayland was one of nine to receive one. Ours was the third largest at $10.1 million!
Our current library has problems with overcrowding, insufficient quiet study and meeting space, not appropriate spaces for teens or children, traffic and parking challenges, flooding, and more. In fact, a new library has been in the Town’s capital budget since 2005.