GRANBY — The town's first library is closing its doors until the spring as it is transformed into a maker's space, an effort to bring back more community members to the building.
The Frederick H. Cossitt Library in North Granby opened in 1891, and since then has been a well-known landmark to longtime residents in town. However, it has seen a substantial decrease in visitors over the years, said Amber Wyzik, director of Library Services, requiring library staff to brainstorm how to repurpose it into a useful resource and bring the community together again, instead of closing down altogether.
"There wasn't a lot of patronage here. There wasn't a big circulation," Wyzik said. "But there is a lot of history here. So we wanted to do something that would would bring people back to this space."
That's what led to conversations about a maker's space, which is essentially a collaborative area for community members to gather and work on projects, share ideas, and learn new skills, Wyzik said.
The Cossitt Library's maker's space, or "Cossitt Creation Station," will be the town's first maker's space open to the public, aiming to give older teens and adults an opportunity to use equipment they might not have readily available to them, such as 3D printers, sewing machines, laser cutters, and Cricut machines.
"We are just trying to be innovative and try out something different for the community," Wyzik said.
The library's final day in its currrent configuration was Nov. 2.
But come early April, when the maker's space is estimated to be completed, residents need not prepare for a total, drastic remodel of Cossitt Library as they know it, said Holly Johnson, the Cossitt branch manager.
"It's a reconfiguration of the space," she said.
The "Cossitt Creation Station" will be on the lower level of the library, which is currently home to the children's section. This area was perfect for something like a maker's space, Wyzik said, especially because they weren't really seeing kids coming here anymore when they could go to the main branch for more offerings.
So, the biggest change at Cossitt will be the downstairs shelving coming out and books being relocated, Johnson said. Other than that, she added, it's essentially going to be the same space, but with various stations for using the different pieces of equipment and technology, and of course, a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
"This looks like it's going to be our best use of space," Johnson said. She said she felt it would be the change needed to liven up the library and attract a newer audience.
Even when Wyzik first started as director around six months ago, she said she knew the area was being underutilized.
"So we said, 'What can we do with this space that could give people a resource or tool that they need?'" she said. "Because that's what the library is all about: providing resources for people."
Wyzik said she and the staff thought a lot about who makes up the community, and what people were looking for. She said they felt like there were a lot of creative and crafty people here who could use a space to work.
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Maker's spaces have popped up in numerous nearby towns, Wyzik said, including in Simsbury, Farmington, and West Hartford. She said they toured the different ones to gather inspiration for their own, seeing what they liked about each one and taking ideas for what would best suit the Granby community.
And for those who may not already know how to use this new equipment, there will be a new maker's space assistant hired specifically for that purpose, to guide visitors with all of the new offerings. Additionally, Cossitt Library will also offer introductory classes for people to receive training, in which all of the materials will be provided to them, Wyzik said.
Once they are trained, visitors will be able to reserve time blocks to independently use the maker's space stations, and can either bring their own materials or can buy it at the library.
And because they expect this new update to bring even more community members to the library, Cossitt will have increased hours, Wyzik said. The library is currently open Tuesday through Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m., and they plan to increase it to 15 hours a week, as well as adding one Saturday a month.
"We're hoping that people will be excited about it and want to come and check it out, and it'll bring people back to Cossitt," she said.
But not all longtime residents are completely supportive of the idea. The library's Facebook post announcing the change has almost 50 comments, many of which are from residents expressing their sadness that the historic library will no longer be as they remember it.
"I think it's a real shame," said resident Carol Innes, whose mother was a former librarian at the Cossitt Library for around 30 years.
Innes, who grew up going to Cossitt, said she didn't like the idea of it ceasing to exist as a library, especially because of its deep community and historical roots. She added that it seemed like many community members weren't even aware this was happening, and what exactly the change entailed.
And this was a common concern Johnson said she kept bumping into. "When I'm here on a regular shift, folks are coming in and they're going, 'Oh, I want to remember it before it closes,'" she said. "And I want to say, it's not going to change!"
And once she explains to people what exactly is going to happen, Johnson said the response ends up being very positive. "We haven't had space to offer the community something like this," she said.
Innes also questioned how the decision was made in the first place.
Wyzik said she first ran the idea by her staff and the Friends of the Granby Public Libraries, and once she saw they were on board, took it to the Library Board, the Granby Library Association, and finally the Board of Selectmen, where it was approved. As a member of the community herself, Wyzik said she also brought up the idea to other patrons and local residents, who were just as supportive.
"There was a unanimous 'that sounds awesome,'" she said. "So we went for it."
Some residents also commented questions about what they would be doing with all of the books downstairs, for fear they would end up discarded. But Wyzik said that was not the case, as the books would either be relocated to the main branch, or moved upstairs, which will essentially remain the same, with a small children's section added.
Another concern Innes brought up was that residents were misled in the library's previous fundraising effort for renovations. Innes said that if residents knew that their donations would be going toward closing the library, they may not have wanted to take part in it.
However, Wyzik clarified that the donations received for renovations went toward new window paneling in the upper level of the library, which was damaged by weather over the years.
Overall, the Creation Station in Cossitt Library will cost around $15,000, Wyzik said.
But it won't require taking out any extra money from their budget, as they are funding the project through several anonymous donations, grants, and the support of the Friends of the Library organization and Granby Library Association, Wyzik said. They will also be enhancing the book collection upstairs through the money already allocated in the budget.
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