Madison library sees final stretch of renovations this weekend during ribbon cutting

by Madison Eagle

MADISON – The ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the near completion of the multi-million dollar renovations at the Madison Public Library took place Sunday, June 1.

The renovations, which ran nearly a million dollars over budget, cost just over four, according to President of the Board of Trustees Thomas Bitinger.

“We focused on abatement [of asbestos] and ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) compliance and just connectivity [and] accessibility,” said the library’s director Lynn Favreau.

The library also sought to add new furniture and add more lighting by moving bookshelves which had previously partially blocked certain windows, the director added.

The library had a soft opening on April 30, but Sunday was the big day as the library is welcoming its patrons back to the space.

Many patrons had said in the past that they wanted more outlets to charge their devices, according to Favreau. The library accommodated this request during renovations when they nearly completely rewired the floor.

“I like that it’s updated and open and friendly,” said Madison resident Tom Abitante, who brought his young children to the newly renovated children’s reading room and noted that the new design seemed very “clean.”

“It’s beautiful,” said Helene Corlett, a former circulation supervisor, who worked at the front desk of the library for over 30 years.

More residents also expressed their appreciation for the renovations: “We love it. We love the renovations. It’s very kid friendly,” said local mom Valarie Delli Paoli. “My kids’ favorite sections so far [is] the little seat in between the shelves.”

Also in attendance was state Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, who helped with the ribbon cutting.

Bucco was a key proponent of the passage of the New Jersey Library Bond Act, which provides state funding for libraries across the state to carry out necessary renovations.

“[At the Madison library] they were able to take that money, you know, change, update the library, remove the asbestos, and do that kind of stuff. And now, it’s an investment in the future,” Bucco said in an interview. “I think the funding did exactly what it was supposed to do, and this is a great example of that.”

The bill was passed with a majority margin of 59 percent to 39 percent, said Jeanne Marie Ryan, the director of the Keyport Free Public Library in northern Monmouth County. Ryan, who helped the senator pass the bill, said that, “We helped to build a slightly better world with the Library Construction Bond Act.”

Despite going over budget, Favreau said that the library is lucky to be able to have a privately owned foundation, which she says operates like an endowment and contains a portfolio of bequests, donations, and investments.

The library had anticipated potential obstacles, and expected to reach into the profits yielded by the foundation.

In addition to serving as a financial safety net, the foundation also made it possible to buy $750,000 worth of furniture, a figure which would have otherwise been prohibitive.

Among the obstacles, asbestos was highlighted as a major issue. “We’ve had a couple of surprises with the asbestos,” Favreau said. “We thought we were all done, we went to install the children’s carpeting, and when they went to cut a straight line to make the two carpetings meet beautifully, the carpeting under the lobby turned out to have asbestos under it.”

While the library had hoped to be done with all renovations by the time of the ribbon cutting ceremony, a small segment of the historical wing was found to be lacking fire proofing, the director said.

The issue is expected to be resolved in the next few weeks.

Prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, patrons were invited to explore the new space and light refreshments were offered.