Getting to where we are now...

The North Buffalo Library Long Term Planning Committee is getting back in action. The temporary North Park Branch library located in the K-Mart Plaza on Hertel Avenue has opened and it is time to focus on long term solutions to library service in North Buffalo.

It is a good time to review how we got to where we are right now with the committee.

Here is some background information:

• Buffalo & Erie County Public Library closed the Fairfield Branch in 2005 despite high use. The reason given was problems with the building.
• In 2008 building environmental problems at the North Park Branch that had been identified forced the closing of that sole remaining library located North Buffalo. The Library system did provide temporary book mobile service at the site until October.
• The North Buffalo Good Neighbor Planning Alliance invited BECPL Director Bridget Quinn-Carey to address their monthly meeting in September to address the problem of library service in North Buffalo.
• BECPL responded to the North Park Library crises with plans to establish a temporary branch library in a store front in the Kmart Plaza after looking at a variety of options and locations.
• The North Buffalo Good Neighbor Planning Alliance held a series of meetings at Cafe Allegro in October to get community input and to attempt to establish a Friends of North Buffalo Library group.
• Some members of the community were against putting money into a temporary location and would rather see an effort made to renovate and reopen the currently closed Fairfield Library.
• Early meetings were chaotic but it was clear that several groups needed to be formed.
• A group to look at the options of the Fairfield building.
• A group to ensure the long term viability of the North Park building.
• A friends group for the temporary store front library.
• A long term planning committee for library service.
• A buyer for the Fairfield building was revealed who was planning to turn the property into rental apartments.
  
• First group to form was a Friends of Fairfield to look at the viability of returning library services to the building and to stop the sale of the property until it could be evaluated.
• In early December a letter was delivered to the mayor requesting that the sale of the building be postponed until the community was given the opportunity to explore the possibility of renovating the building and restoring library services or multiuse community center.
• Members of Friends of Fairfield, Parkside Community Association, and others attended a meeting at City Hall with the Mayor and Bridget Quinn-Carey of BECPL. Director Quinn-Carey assured everyone of her effort to return library service to North Buffalo and expressed a willingness to look at the possibility of returning limited, budget neutral services to Fairfield. The mayor expressed support for building a state-of-the-art library in North Buffalo if that was what the community wanted.
• The leasing of the Kmart Plaza store front temporary library was held up while the community was given the opportunity to look at options and the sale of the Fairfield building was also put on hold to give the community a chance to look at options.
• The mayor also said he would arrange a meeting of the community groups with the developer interested in buying the Fairfield building.
• The Friends of Fairfield group had a series of meetings to explore the reuse of the building. It became apparent early on that neither the city or the library system was interested in returning the building to be a branch library again. The group concentrated on the idea of renovating the building into a net zero facility with a LEED platinum rating as a community center with the capability of hosting limited library services in the future. The group held meetings through December and January developing their plan.
• The Kmart Plaza storefront location was approved by the Common Council & Library Board. Completion was expected in late spring or early summer.
  
• The group met with the mayor and developer. The mayor wanted the community to hold off supporting the historic landmark designation. He would allow two months for the community to come up with a plan that included funding before selling the building to the developers.
• The Friends of Fairfield presented their plan at a Parkside Community Association. The PCA Board decided not to support the plan because of no clear funding source.
  
• The Vernon Triangle Block Club notified the Parkside Community Association that they supported the Fairfield building developer and did not want the PCA to do anything to impede the sale of the building.
• The North Buffalo Long Term Library Planning Committee was formed in April.
• City announced that funds had been requested for Fairfield and North Park buildings through Restore NY. Everything concerning Fairfield would be on hold pending the request.
• We found out about this the day of our meeting. At the meeting we discussed the need to conduct a community needs assessment and funding the study.
  
• We also discussed possible locations and the need for community input.
  
• The new temporary branch of the North Park Library was scheduled for a July 1st opening.
• A blog was created for ongoing discussion - www.northbuffalolibrary.blogspot.com.
• On May 19th the developer and potential buyer of the Fairfield building made a presentation to the Parkside community.
  
• The committee toured the Merriweather Library on June 22.
• Cassie Wilson continued to call Friends of the Fairfield meetings throughout the summer.
• The grand opening for the temporary North Park Branch Library in the Kmart plaza finally happened on Sept. 17th.
• At that point the North Buffalo Long Range Planning Committee called a meeting to prepare for moving forward with a permanent solution to library services in North Buffalo.