Face lift for borough library proposed
Renovations would make building comply with ADA requirements
GLORIA STRAVELLI This stairway provides the only access to the lower level of the Red Bank Public Library where the children’s, meeting and rest rooms are located.
Major renovations at the Red Bank Public Library, including making the facility accessible to the handicapped, have been recommended in a report to library trustees.
In addition to bringing the library into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the study by the architectural firm Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis and Globus Design Associates, Red Bank, recommends opening little-used rooms to the public, moving collections to make them more accessible, and adding space for computers and nonprint media such as CDs, videos and books on tape.
"The idea was to have an overall plan so we would have a long-range facility plan to draw upon," explained Deborah Griffin Sadel, director of the municipal library which had almost 59,000 visitors last year.
According to project architect Ned Gaunt, the borough asked for a master plan of renovations that addresses areas including accessibility and improvements that would maximize use of the facility at 84 W. Front St., along the Navesink River.
GLORIA STRAVELLI A study recommends installation of an elevator to make the children’s, meeting and rest rooms, located on the lower level of the Red Bank Public Library, accessible to individuals with disabilities.
The total cost of a comprehensive renovation of the library would be $1.3 million, but the changes proposed in the study are designed to be carried out selectively and in phases, he said.
Funding for the renovations would require the approval of the mayor and council.
According to Griffin Sadel, even before building inspectors mandated the deficiency be corrected, library trustees asked for a study of improvements, including making the library ADA compliant.
"We want to make the library fully accessible to the entire community, including those who are disabled," she said.
"We’re not wheelchair accessible except for the first floor, and there are no rest-room facilities on the first floor," she explained.
That means resources like the local history collection, meeting rooms and children’s room aren’t accessible to those with disabilities, nor are book stacks on the main level, which are spaced too close to allow wheelchair access.
"Those parts of the library are basically off limits to them," she observed.
"Children in wheelchairs are stuck with someone running the books they want up and down to them," she added.
Founded in 1878 by a group of Red Bank women, the library was initially located in the Clayton & McGee building on Broad Street, and subsequently moved across the street to a millinery store where the proprietor served as librarian. The library moved several more times before Sigmund Eisner donated his 8,700-square-foot, three-story residence on the Navesink River to the borough for use as a library in 1937. In 1968, the building was expanded by 9,700 square feet to house the main reading and children’s rooms.
The 10-member board of trustees also asked the architects to accommodate changes in traditional library uses, Griffin Sadel explained.
"We are finding the library is getting unconventional use," she explained. "For example, computer use has skyrocketed (45 percent over last year), and we’re getting a lot of requests for meeting room space. Circulation of nonprint media such as videos, CDs and books on tape has gone up. Plus, we need to be able to train people in using computers. So in a lot of ways our facility was kind of lacking as a 21st-century library."
"I’ve felt bad for 25 years that there are a lot of different types of people that can’t use the library because there’s no elevator," said Jane Eigenrauch, adult services librarian.
"Older people who need to use the bathrooms downstairs — even if they manage to get down there — they’re not accessible so there aren’t any railings," she continued. "Mothers have to park the strollers at the top of the steps and carry children down. A wide range of patrons were discouraged by the fact that there isn’t accessibility," she said.
Gaunt said the study recommends an elevator be installed to provide access to the lower level and second floor, which are currently accessible only by stairway and are underused spaces.
The elevator would be centrally located on the main floor, he said, where an ADA-accessible rest room will also be added. An additional stairwell will connect the third floor and the main level.
The study calls for the lower level to remain as a children’s room and for a movable divider for the meeting room which will allow the room to be split into two smaller spaces when needed.
The New Jersey history collection and a music room located on the second floor get little use by the public, Gaunt said, and the study recommends the entire floor be opened up into a more functional space by moving the adult fiction collection to that level.
Globus’ firm, which specializes in the design of library interiors, also recommends using space available on that level to create a reading porch.
The study proposes moving the local history collection to the board room located at the front of the library, part of the original Eisner home.
"It’s a beautifully restored paneled room with ornate plaster ceilings that very few people use because it’s not open to the public, and we’re suggesting it be opened on a controlled basis," he said.
"It’s one of the more richly detailed rooms in Red Bank and part of the history of the town. It seemed like a natural to move the New Jersey history collection into that room," concurred Globus.
The third level has several small rooms which could be used as a break room and office space for staff, Gaunt added.
"We looked at bringing the library into compliance, but we were also looking at how the space might be better used, said Globus.
Among the interior changes proposed by the firm is moving the circulation desk to the wall opposite its present spot to provide an unobstructed river view and open up space for the nonprint media collection, and using a small room off the lobby for display space.
The study proposes expanding parking on the library grounds by adding six or seven spaces where a grassy area now exists, while reducing the number of ADA-accessible parking stalls to one, and relocating it closer to the entry ramp. The entry ramp is sloped incorrectly, Gaunt said, and needs to be replaced. Not mentioned in the study, added Griffin Sadel, is replacement of the deteriorating bulkhead along the riverfront. "There’s a lot of work to be done," she said.
The facade, Gaunt said, would be spruced up as well, and plans call for a more ornate, more traditional exterior in keeping with the character of the original Eisner house.
"We’re really glad that it’s happening because over the years we’ve seen many patrons who are either limited in their use of the library or can’t use the library at all," said Eigenrauch, "and we’re really glad that people will be able to do that."