Council approves study of options for library

TINTON FALLS - After two presentations pertaining to the borough's 3,000- square-foot library were given at Tuesday's meeting, Borough Council members decided to move forward with a feasibility study to explore new possibilities for the Tinton Falls library.

"There will be a resolution at the next meeting to award [the grant] to that company [Dennis Kowal Architects] to move them to that next level," said Deputy Council President Brendan P. Tobin Wednesday.

The feasibility study, which will take 12 weeks to complete, will look into what the library needs to operate adequately for the ever-expanding population of Tinton Falls.

It would analyze the town, library capacity, usages, needs, other nearby libraries and their services and what is needed to accommodate the residents based on usage of the library, according to Tobin.

Resident and head of the Library Evaluation Committee Mike Stanton, Bowles Lane, gave one of the reports about the library and recommended Dennis Kowal Architects go forward with the feasibility study.

The feasibility study will be funded by a $25,000 grant from the state.

The feasibility study will also include an analysis of the brick section of the old Borough Hall, currently located behind the new municipal complex building. The brick section is 7,770 square feet, roughly 2.7 times larger than the current library space, according to Tobin.

"I think if we can't use it for the library there is no reason to use it at all," said council member Paul Ford of the brick section of the old municipal building. The old municipal building demolition was also on the meeting agenda but was not thoroughly discussed in order to investigate if the library could use the brick section of that facility, which the borough owns.

"I think the building has a use, I don't know if that use is expansion," said Gerald J. Freda, representing Birdsall Engineering, the borough's engineering firm, about adding on to the brick section of the old municipal building.

Another option for the borough is to use Fort Monmouth property for the new library space once the Army base closes in 2011.

"I would shy away from fort property whatsoever," said Tobin. "I have been in the BRAC meetings and they said it could be five to 10 years after they close [Fort Monmouth] before you get the property. We have already talked about this for 15 [years]. Let's not make it 30."

Stanton said he and the rest of the committee, which is made up of residents, library staffers and borough officials, sent out surveys to receive feedback about the library.

He said 342 of those surveys were returned and of the 96 percent of those people who responded, 71 percent said they "would support efforts to improve and expand the TF library services through increased community funding."

"We believe our town needs and deserves an adequate building for its library," said Library Director Rosemary Tunnicliffe after her well-received presentation to the council. "We love this town and are trying to do what's best for it."

Many people in the audience were wearing stickers that read "library supporter" and there was resounding applause as Tunnicliffe took the podium. Some people stood up to show their support as she and program coordinator Jayne Cleveland had finished their presentation.

There were a few dissenting voices in the crowd who felt that a revamped library was not necessary since the Eastern Branch of the Monmouth County Library is located in nearby Shrewsbury on Route 35.

"The library supporters tonight talked about a comprehensive study," said Leo Christofili of River Edge Road. "The study they came up with, I got a copy, I chose not to fill it out because the thing was bogus. … It's probably driven by certain special interests."

The construction of a new library has always been part of the municipal complex plans, which include three phases: construction of the public works building, the municipal offices and phase three, the library.

According to a Tinton Falls library fact sheet, the average number of people using the library each day is 130. The meeting room, which has a long table that seats 10 or 12 people, also serves as the lunchroom, the reference room and the place where people come to do word processing.

In addition to having limited parking, the library building is not ADA compliant, and Tunnicliffe shares a crowded 180- square-foot office with three other employees and the volunteers who help run the library.

The library director said previously that she has seen a 10 percent increase in use of the library each year, with 500 new members joining yearly. The library is open Monday through Saturday.

Tunnicliffe attends almost every Borough Council meeting and reminds the council that the library needs more space every chance she gets and this meeting was no different.

"The value of a library to a community is much more than dollars and cents," said Tunnicliffe during her presentation.

She added the library has been housed in the current building for 33 years, since 1961 when there were 7,000 residents. She noted that in 2007, there are 17,500 residents.

She also said the library serves as a cultural center, local news center and meeting hall.

"We are a place where new and not-sonew residents can meet their neighbors," said Tunnicliffe. "We consider this all to be part of our function as a community facility."