By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer

The Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth holds history, worlds of adventure and avenues to the future on its shelves –  if you know where to look in the confusing and sometimes cramped library stacks.
For the past 18 months, Library Director Jay Sherma and the library board have worked with library consultants Ethel Himmel and Bill Wilson of Wisconsin to explore options for a new library.
The town council last week hosted a special meeting at the Thomas Memorial Library last week. Sherma showed the public and town council more than 100 problems the old library faces, and made an emotional plea for a new facility.
Bill Himmel, in a presentation about the proposed new library, said an updated building could link the past and future through the historical society and technology improvements, work as a community center and leave a legacy for future generations.
A new library would cost an estimated $5.1 million to $7.8 million.  Himmel said it was possible, although ambitious, to raise one third of the cost, or $1.7 million.  The rest of the library would be publicly funded, though specific funding has not been determined.  Himmel said a new library would save the town more immediate costs to solve existing problems.
Himmel, Wilson and the library board reviewed four solutions for the library’s problems.  The consultants suggested doing nothing and living with the existing space. However, this idea was quickly rejected even before the library realized it had a mold problem that forced the delay of children’s story hour.
Himmel and Wilson also suggested rearranging the library, but that solution would not create needed space or solve other problems.
The library board concluded an addition to the existing library or building a new library are the only two feasible options to solve the library problems.  An addition would cost approximately $5 million and include moving the front section of the library, the old Pond Cove School building, toward Scott Dyer Road and building a new foundation.  The board and consultants believe a new building would remedy the current building’s low ceilings, sinking floors and extensive water damage from a soggy summer.

The library’s history in Cape Elizabeth dates to 1919, when William Thomas Jr. dedicated the one-room Spurwink Schoolhouse, built in 1849, to the town of Cape Elizabeth for use as a library.  After a decline in library members, the building was moved from Spurwink Avenue to its current location near Scott Dyer Road and Ocean House Road in 1944.
 In 1958, a wall in the original schoolhouse was torn down as an addition to the building was constructed.  The old Pond Cove School was added to the library in 1983 and a sloping hallway with circulation desk was attached in 1984 to connect the two buildings.
The Spurwink Schoolhouse cannot support the weight of books in the children’s section and the stacks are widely placed.  The opposite can be found in the old Pond Cove School building where stacks are fewer than 30 inches apart and two people can barely pass one another.
Sherma said he tries to use every bit of available space. For every new book the library receives, one old book must be given away to maintain manageable stacks.
The community room in the basement of the Spurwink School is supposed to hold 80 people and is a meeting room for Girl Scouts, the historic society and community clubs. During 10 months of the year the room’s capacity shrinks because books for the annual Columbus Day sale are kept there in what also is the library’s only storage space.
The circulation desk in the front of the building also has no storage room for returned books.  Every book must be carried back to the stacks by a librarian before books pile up on the desk.
The buildings still have their original boilers, and old parts are no longer available to make heating the building more efficient.  Three times this year the two elevators to lower levels  have become stuck, causing a safety issue.
Himmel said a new library would offer more efficiency as well.  He said the larger 20,000-square-foot facility would not require any staff changes and would provide more space for the collection, storage and the historic society, which shares space in the library.
Himmel said the existing 13,244-square-foot library appears to be underutilized, but his research of Cape Elizabeth shows it has an ideal demographic for a high level of library use with the town’s above-average income and intelligence levels.
“If the facility is properly sized it will find its audience,” Sherma said.
Last year the library’s circulation was more than 150,000 and Sherma expects a yearly increase of 5 or 6 percent.  However he said most patrons order their books online and pick them up at the library instead of browsing in the stacks.  
The new library would be part of the town center with a larger community room and conference room, quiet spaces for reading and specialized spaces for activities, including tutoring.
The library consultants suggested the town move forward with the proposal by discussing fundraising techniques and other engineering design options.  The town council will discuss at a future meeting if the town needs a new library and how that new library could be funded.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.