Waban library aims to reopen in September
Closed since last summer, Waban's branch library is preparing to reopen as an independent volunteer-run library in September, featuring community classes from yoga to hip-hop dancing to creative writing.
After an override failed in Newton last year, forcing significant cuts to the city's budget, the Board of Library Trustees agreed to cut all four of the branch libraries to save $211,910 for fiscal year 2009.
Since the city is not willing to finance the project, the Waban Improvement Society, a nonprofit composed of Waban residents, has led a grass-roots campaign to independently finance the library. By using volunteers, charging a small fee for the community classes, and fund-raising throughout the community, members of the Waban Improvement Society believe they will be able to meet their operating budget of $25,000.
Because the building is city-owned, Newton will be responsible for maintenance, but nothing else.
Following in the footsteps of the Auburndale Library which reopened its doors in June, the Waban Library will have no association with the Newton Free Public Library.
Chris Payton, who serves on the Waban Improvement Society board, said that when the library was shuttered the village had mixed feelings.
“The neighborhood had some problems with the branch, to be honest,” Payton said. “There was only one librarian, and the hours didn’t fit a lot of people’s schedule. We wanted to make sure for the next go around we created something that best suited the community.”
In the library’s new manifestation there will be 10 to 15 hours a week when the library will be open for book circulation, studying, reading, etc. and 20 hours a week of community classes. Some of these hours will overlap.
“It’s really exciting to see the new library begin to take shape,” Payton said. “In the past it was staffed with just one librarian and very limited hours. We all accepted that, but now we have a clean sheet of paper, and we can step back and hear what the community really wants the library to be.“
Payton says they have a ways to go until the library is what they want it to be.
“Right now the place has a feel of a ghost town,” he said. “When the branch closed down, we just closed the doors and left everything untouched. If someone left a sweater hanging over a chair it’s still there now… In the future we hope the Waban Library can be every bit a modern library, with computers, wireless access, and more.”
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