ROCHESTER  – Selectmen endorsed a major renovation plan for the Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library that will make the facility more handicap-accessible and turn its lower floor into a spacious programming area.

In proposing the work, the town's facility manager Andrew Daniels explained on Jan. 21 that the current upstairs portion of the library is "stuffed. There are no walls in between where the programs are and people are trying to quietly work on the computers," he said

The renovations, he said, will double the available space downstairs.  The work will turn the downstairs into a large activities area and even add more meeting space for town boards and the community. Upstairs will become dedicated "traditional library space:” the place for the book racks, computers and quiet study time.  

The work's biggest additions, however, will be a handicapped-accessible elevator, bathrooms and upgrades to the library's entrance doors, he said.

He said he needed the selectmen's approval to apply for the necessary building permits.  The board approved the plan with few comments, especially after hearing that funding the work will not be a problem.

Daniels said the project will use a $100,000 state housing grant. Library director Gail Roberts added the work will also utilize $3,000 from an A.D. Makepeace grant and $10,000 from Covanta/SEMASS.

Roberts said it is too soon to know the full cost of the work involved because the project planning is just beginning.