Redesign at city library By: Brian Gooney , Managing Editor 08/22/2002
The Linden City Council Tuesday hired Potter Architects for $39,600 to design plans for the renovation of the Linden Main Library.
The renovations will make the Main Branch on East Henry Street compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.
Library Systems & Services LLC of Germantown, Md., the private management company which oversees the three public library branches, begins its new two-year contract in September. The management firm was brought in two years ago by Mayor John Gregorio and the Library Board of Trustees to improve the efficiency of library operations.
The Main Branch, which was constructed in 1939, needs a wheelchair ramp at the main entrance, improvements to the bathroom, expansion of passages in the library department and an elevator to all three levels, according to LSS manager Gregory Pringle.
Approximately $50,000 is anticipated through a Union County Block Grant, he added. The total cost is undetermined since the work will be done in phases as money is obtained from different sources.
The Sunnyside and East branches will remain in operation as libraries, although they were turned over last year to the Board of Education and Linden Housing Authority, respectively. School officials plan to relocate the Special Education Department to Sunnyside, thereby creating more instructional space at public schools.
The Housing Authority will demolish the East Branch on Dill Avenue and construct an 11-story residential complex for senior citizens and disabled adults. Some library services will be retained at both locations.
Library officials decided to shut down the East and Sunnyside branches due to a decline in the number of patrons as well as budget constraints. While patron use at the two branches continues to drop, it has increased at the Main Branch, according to Pringle.
Circulation rose 30 percent in 2001 throughout the library system, while there was a 50-percent increase at the Main Branch, he added. Computers have been added to allow more Internet access for patrons.
[ Source:
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