Grafton Library receives early $1,859,714 gift from the state
Here’s something that doesn’t happen that often: the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners is granting the town a partial payment of $1,859,714 toward the construction grant this fiscal year.
That would be early state money for the $16.6 million project, expected to open in early July. The project not only will expand the library, it will make it accessible to residents with handicaps, adding an elevator, removing the stacks, and retaining most of the original 1927 building, including the historic reading room. Other features include meeting and study rooms, expanded space for children, a teen area, more space for the library’s collections, including multimedia, and computers (above photos provided by the library’s Facebook album).
Library Director Beth Gallaway required a quick turnaround to get documents signed and to the commissioners in time for the June 2 deadline.
“Beth is being humble,” Select Board member Doreen DeFazio said, praising her hard work that made the town eligible for the early funding,
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I hear it has a better kitchen than most restaurants in town.
Town voters rejected that funding and the abuse of that historic building for years.
That’s not a gift ladies and gentlemen, those are our tax dollars – coming from the other kidney!
Who made the decision to waste our valuable resources on building an addition to this library that is practically pointless? The current building could have been modernized with handy cap tools and technology for far cheaper. Does Graftons older generations think paper copy books are going to come back into style? You’re destroying our wild life and resources for the most pointless old fashioned thing. WAKE UP.
Town Meeting approved the library expansion at Town Meeting in 2017, followed by an election question also approving the project that same month. It passed by a vote of 1,197 to 953 on the same ballot as the approval of the new DPW building.