April 2020

LIBRARY RENOVATION: In 2017, in a unique public/private partnership with the Boston Public Library (BPL), the Friends of the South End Library (FOSEL) raised $95,000 after expenses to renovate the interior of the South End branch library. At the same time, FOSEL and the BPL began initial planning for a more comprehensive, multi-million-dollar expansion of the South End Library into a state-of-the-art facility to support 21st-century library services for the South End community. The beautiful interior renovation, called a “refresh,” was completed in February 2020, with a BPL allocation of $132,000 in City funds and a $50,000 contribution from FOSEL. 

(Photographs courtesy of Juan Carlos Gonzalez)

Every member of FOSEL’s 2017 board contributed to the fundraising campaign in amounts ranging from $50 to $10,000 for a total of $30,000. Many generous South End residents made donations ranging from $50 to $10,000, as well. Among other neighborhood associations, the Worcester Square Area neighborhood Association gave $1,500. The BPDA (formerly the BRA) wrote a check for $1,000. And Eversource Energy donated $2,500, among other contributors.

The interior renovation provided numerous needed amenities: new flooring, fresh paint, a reconfiguration of existing space to offer more varied seating arrangements, many additional electrical outlets and charging stations, new furnishings and upholstery, a ceiling-mounted projector and slide-down screen in the community room upstairs, infant changing stations in the restrooms, upgraded staff facilities and a charming mural depicting local landmarks and culturally recognizable pass times popular in the South End. 

While the corona pandemic has suspended firm dates for planning any construction in the City of Boston and economic restraints may further impede or delay plans for a longer-term South End Library renovation, the first step in the planning process, a $100,000 programming study, has been funded and is in the FY 2020 City Capital Budget. Several other BPL branch libraries are also on the BPL’s capital renovation list.  The one-year study is conducted by the City’s Facilities Department and determines what library services are needed, based on current South End demographic data and the space available for expansion. The South End Library’s site, which includes Library Park, is about 16,000 square feet. The current building size is about 8,000 square feet. The park is owned by the BPL but managed by the Boston Department of Parks and Recreation (BDPR).

An architectural firm is hired for a programming study, which, when completed, will have an estimated multi-million-dollar budget attached to it. A public meeting with the South End community will take place at the beginning of the study, when local residents are encouraged to state what they would like to see in their local library. Other public meetings will follow once the programming study is completed. All the information and feedback from study and meetings will lead to a Design Study, more public meetings, and, finally, the funding and construction of a new South End Library. 

Despite the current pandemic, FOSEL board members are planning to present to you, our neighbors, information we are now gathering about other library renovations that have taken place in Boston and elsewhere. We hope to ignite the collective imagination of the community as we and you are asked to become engaged with the BPL’s programming study. The preliminary ideas include, but are not limited to: 

*state-of-the-art electronic/digital infrastructure 

*multi-lingual signage and informational digital touch-screens

*a large, separate area dedicated to teens 

*a beautifully renovated children’s room 

*more seating arrangements attractive for seniors, adults, teens and other-abled library users

*a community space dedicated to the prominent display of images and artifacts of the South End and the many books written by local authors

*an art exhibition space with windows on Tremont and W Newton Streets to better connect the Library to the streetscape

*flexible rooms for tutoring, conferences, workshops and neighborhood meetings

*retail space for businesses that complement a public library’s mission, such as a café, a book/craft store, a food purveyor who offers culinary workshops

WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR IDEAS FOR A SOUTH END LIBRARY RENOVATION: Email us at info@friendsofsouthendlibrary.org. Thank you.