Monthly Archives: November 2016

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Help us Close the Gap!

UPDATE: OUR NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY IS GETTING CLOSER
We need your financial support NOW to CLOSE THE GAP in 2016!
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Once completed, the library will operate with no net increase to taxpayers:

  • The 1% of property taxes that is allocated to operate the library is mandated by state and federal law and has been adequate to operate the library in the past.
  • Independent assessments have confirmed that operating the new building will cost equal to (or less than) the usage fee currently paid to Cranbury School.
  • No additional library staff are required to operate the new facility.

Cranbury needs a library and community center to anchor the downtown area:

  • Sharing a space with the school library no longer meets the public needs of our community.
  • Cranbury needs a freestanding public library that can serve as the “community living room,” safe learning space, and technology center for the town (plus, space for books and e-books!).
  • The new library will have sufficient space for adults, children, and teens to work, relax, gather, and enjoy programming in a comfortable environment, during both daytime and evening hours.

Cranbury School deserves a dedicated school library:

  • The Cranbury Education Foundation is planning to support reconfiguration of the current library space to become a multi-media center for the school that can provide unconstrained access for students to develop research skills critical to 21st-century public education.

PLEASE HELP US CLOSE THE GAP in 2016 and break ground in 2017!

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New Library Update

Great news! After much work and many discussions the Planning Board has recommended our new library site plan.  The final step will be a presentation to the Township Committee on November 14 or 28.  Please come to the meeting and support our plan.
The process began last spring when the Library Board went to the Planning Board and Township Committee to seek approval for the conceptual library site plan at the end of Park Place West. This plan included the proposed location of the building, adjacent municipal parking lot and sidewalks.
Using the Planning Board and Township Committee feedback, engineers were hired to provide a detailed site plan. On September 15 the Library Board appeared before the Planning Board for final review.
Fifty-two Cranbury residents also attended this meeting. The residents spoke of their enthusiastic support for the library project overall. Concerns were raised, however, about preserving the vista at the end of Park Place West. They pointed out that the Master Plan advocates for the continued protection of scenic vistas and the proposed location of the library and parking lot compromised this objective.
All parties acknowledged the partial loss of the vista so the Planning Board decided to delay final recommendations on the site plan until the interested parties could meet and review the plan together.
On Monday, October 3rd, the Library Board invited  community members to a meeting in the Gambino Room to talk about the site plan and find a solution agreeable to everyone. Different plans were proposed and discussed.  By the end of the evening the group had come up with a design that everyone liked!
The Library Board returned to the Planning Board on October 20. The new site plan was presented. Happily it met everyone’s approval and the Planning Board unanimously voted to recommend the site design. All present applauded!
Now it’s back to the Township Committee.  Check the agendas for the exact date of the meeting. Please attend or talk to a committee member. This is your chance to voice your opinion on the new library and site design.