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By Jack Degange
There’s a good reason that Howe Library is called
Hanover’s “community living room.” Save for the
schools, the library is the town’s most active
building. On any given day, over 700 people of all
ages pass through the library’s doors.
Taking advantage of The Howe’s resources is an
expectation of Hanover residents. It’s an
expectation that was foremost in the minds of the
Library’s construction committee, professional staff
and Trumbull-Nelson, the Construction Manager, as
plans were drawn for a $5 million expansion and
renovation project that reaches to every corner of
the 30-year old building at the corner of East South
Street and Currier Place.
On the surface, the plan made perfect sense. First,
move a large house that occupied the site for the
Library’s new wing. That was done in 2003. Next,
build the new wing. Then, relocate services to
permit renovation and refurbishment of the original
building. Most important of all: Complete all phases
of the complex project while the Library continued
normal operation.
On any given day, over 700 people of all ages pass
through the Howe’s doors.
Ground was broken in May 2004 and work began. For
two months, work proceeded as planned. Then, as
Marlene McGonigle, the Library’s director, recalled,
“The schedule was turned upside down.”
The problem: Some 300 glue-laminated, pre-stained
southern yellow pine beams (some as long as 30
feet), columns and rafters plus 150 steel
connections for the new wing, coming from an
over-booked manufacturer in Maine, were unavailable
for installation.
It was crunch time. Suspending work would be costly,
not to mention creating a delay that would make
on-schedule completion all but impossible. “Instead
of having the new wing enclosed and moving on to
renovation, the project became a staged process of
moving that affected construction, staff and the
community,” said McGonigle.
That sounds easy until you think about shifting
thousands of volumes and maintaining services that
address the needs and interests of children, youth
and adults.
“It worked because we all set out to make it work.
We had to play put-and-take between old and new
areas, ”said McGonigle, a professional librarian who
came to The Howe in 1994, charged with the
responsibility of analyzing the need to expand a
building that opened in the mid-1970s with a planned
capacity of 70,000 volumes over a 20-year period. In
2000, The Howe had become home to over 86,000 print
and electronic titles, plus over 210 periodicals.
Except for 2-3 days when normal operation was
suspended to permit installation of carpeting,
teamwork among staff, volunteers and construction
workers turned problems into opportunities.
“The efforts of Dave Stanley, our superintendent,
and the cooperation of our key subcontractors made
it happen,” said Todd Thompson, T-N’s Project
Manager. “One thing I’m proudest of is the
construction team’s willingness to find creative
solutions to scheduling challenges. Flexibility on
everyone’s part was essential.”
At every level, the operational phrase was “business
as usual.” Said Thompson, “(Subcontractors) Defiance
Electric and Economy Mechanical were committed to
doing whatever was necessary to keep the mechanical
and electrical systems running while they modified
existing systems and installed new components.”
“We had to understand the ramifications of each
piece of work, to install and fine-tune and
eliminate interruptions in the library’s services.
And, we recognized the need to CLEAN repeatedly to
maintain a reasonable environment for the staff and
patrons.”
In October, when more than 1,700 community members
overwhelmed the grand opening of the "new" Howe
Library, here’s what they found:
* Overall floor space has increased from 18,000 to
30,000 square feet. It’s a seamless expansion
created by Gerrit Zwart, the architect who designed
the existing building more than 30 years
ago—Trumbull-Nelson was the Construction Manager
then, too.
* The Library’s capacity is now 100,000 items (print
and electronic), envisioning growth of the
collection at a rate of about two percent annually
that will meet needs for another 20 years.
* The three main desks—Information, Children’s and
Circulation—reflect Trumbull-Nelson’s signature
craftsmanship. “They each have curved elements and
are constructed of rift sawn red oak, a somewhat
unusual cut of a common species, that required much
of the desks to be veneered in an unusual manner,”
said Thompson.
* The youth area, including a new teen area with
wired study carrels, has doubled in size to 6,100
square feet.
* Shelving and display areas have been expanded by
25 percent.
* The number of public access computers is doubled
from 16 to 32.
* The Aldrich Room, previously used for periodicals,
is now a quiet reading room. Plus, there are three
new areas designated for study and tutorial use.
* A gallery that bridges the old and new areas is a
venue for monthly art shows featuring area artists
and photographers.
* The entire building is air conditioned and has a
new energy efficient boiler. All windows are new and
have a low energy efficiency rating.
* The building has proper access for patrons with
special needs.
The Howe continues as Hanover’s “community living
room,” carrying forward Emily Howe’s prayer “that
this library may prove a blessing to this community
to the remotest generation.”
Since the 1970s, when it moved to its current site,
the Howe Library has been a virtually unique
partnership of the Town of Hanover and the Howe
Library Corporation. It’s a Town department with
operating expenses funded by tax dollars while the
non-profit Corporation raises funds for programs and
collections—and the funds that made the
expansion-renovation possible.
The Library has been a community resource for more
than a century. It was made possible when Emily Howe
Hitchcock followed the advice of her husband, Hiram
Hitchcock (who built the original Mary Hitchcock
Hospital in memory of his first wife), and gave her
family home on West Wheelock Street to the town for
the library that served Hanover residents for 75
years.
In appearance, today’s “new” Howe Library serves
over 200,000 patrons each year and bears little
resemblance to the original building.
In spirit, The Howe continues as Hanover’s
“community living room,” carrying forward Emily
Howe’s prayer “that this library may prove a
blessing to this community to the remotest
generation.” |
