Future of college library uncertain

Salem State College officials say it will be several weeks before a decision can be made about reopening the campus library, which was closed indefinitely last Monday due to structural safety concerns.

College president Patricia Maguire Meservey ordered the closure in consultation with the state's Division of Capital Asset Management after being advised of the structural problems by engineers helping assess the condition of the four-story brick building on Salem State's north campus.

"It's going to take us a couple of weeks to assess what the situation is and the best plan to remedy the situation," said Salem State spokeswoman Karen Murray Cady. "A best-case scenario is that we would be able to identify portions of the library that we can safely reopen" while efforts continue to address the structural issues.

Built in 1969 and opened in 1971, the library contains 318,711 bound volumes and an extensive multimedia collection, along with 40 computer work stations.

The closure affects not only the library, but other academic functions that share space in the Lafayette Street building. Those include offices and classrooms used by the college's Interdisciplinary Studies Department; honors program; Learning Center, which provides student tutoring and academic support; and Center for Teaching Innovations, which helps to develop online courses.

About 3,000 students use the 128,000-square-foot building on a daily basis, and about 90 staff members are based there, 35 of whom work in the library.

In the immediate aftermath of the closure, college officials successfully found temporary locations in various other campus buildings for the staff and classes normally housed in the library building. Students were advised of the closure through e-mails and information posted on the college's website.

"We are all working together with an amazing amount of teamwork to make this difficult time easier. Everyone is pitching in," said Diane Lapkin, the college's provost and academic vice president. "We are looking for ways to meet our students needs."

Lapkin said that while the library is closed, students can continue to access its many electronic resources, including reference materials and journals, through their own laptops and other computers on campus.

Those that need books will be able to borrow them using their library cards at other state college and public libraries. Salem State's librarians will remain available to students from their interim locations.

The library closure came just six days after Governor Deval Patrick announced the filing of a $2 billion, 10-year bond bill to fund capital investments in the state's public colleges and universities, including $41.4 million to modernize Salem State's library.

"The timing is right for making the point that that our library is in dire need of an upgrade and repairs," Cady said. But she said it was "totally coincidental" that the discovery of the building's structural flaws came so soon after the governor's announcement.

The engineers discovering the structural flaws are part of a team hired by the state Division of Capital Asset Management to evaluate the building. The study, initiated this past summer, is part of the planning process for the renovation project, according to Kevin Flanigan, a deputy director of the agency.

He said it was determined that "because of the design of the building, the age of the building, and what the building was used for, there may be certain areas of the building that pose a potential hazard" structurally. He said it was decided that closure was "the best course of action to take while we can get additional information."

College officials and Flanigan said the closure is a precautionary step and the structural problems had not posed any immediate danger to library users.

Structural repairs are not among the planned features of the library renovation project, which include creating more spaces for group studying, tutoring, and expanded technology, as well as updating the building's mechanical systems and handicapped accessibility.

Flanigan said it is premature to say whether the state would carry out any structural fixes needed for the building, and whether such work would be undertaken on its own or incorporated into the larger renovation project.

"It's hard to speculate until we know exactly what the issues are," he said.

"We understand that the library is a critical part of campus life and we will do whatever we can to support Salem State College to get that thing reopened," he added.

Meanwhile, in a development that could have a bearing on future use of the library building, Henry J. Bertholon last week purchased a 3.5-acre industrial site across from Salem State's central campus for $4.5 million, according to Cady. The college's business school is named after Bertholon, a Salem State College alumnus.

He bought the land through his company, North Shore Realty Development, on Wednesday, and plans to lease the property to Salem State College Assistance Corp., the nonprofit created by the college to purchase the site, formerly owned by GTE Sylvania, in 1997.

Cady said the college is exploring future uses of the newly acquired site, and one possibility is to move some nonlibrary services there.