While the quest for a bigger library is locked in a lawsuit, the number of people using the library hit an all-time high in 2010.
That’s a new record, said Dawn Higginson, the library’s director.
“We had 5,010 cardholders in December 2009 and today we have 5,495, a 9.6 percent increase in one year’s time,” Higginson said. “Our circulation figures increased from 80,113 in 2009 – 2010 to 88,688 in 2010 – 2011, an increase of 10.7 percent in one year’s time.”
She sees an economic connection.
“In these hard economic times, adults, parents and children are looking for free opportunities for education and entertainment. The library should be a place that they can find materials and programs that meet these needs,” Higginson said.
The library is some 3,000 square feet in the bottom of Oxford Town Hall. It’s been there since 1978 and was originally supposed to be there for just five years.
While Oxford’s population has exploded is the past 20 years, the library has become antiquated. For example, it’s not handicapped-accessible. It also lacks a separate section for children or young adults.
In terms of population versus library size, Oxford Library ranks 167 out of 169 towns.
There are plans underway for a new library of between 15,000 to 16,000 square feet.
Dr. Anthony and Sally D’Souza, of Salton Enterprises, offered to donate land they own along a 5‑acre plot off Route 67. At the same time, Salton Enterprises wants to develop land about 20 acres at the same location into a four-building medical complex.
The project involved rezoning some residential land into commercial, which the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved in January 2010.
However, the loss of residential land angered neighbors along Wedge Hill Road. One neighbor, Daniel Wall, filed a lawsuit in an effort to overturn the approval.
Wall’s lawsuit accuses the town of illegal, spot zoning. He said the town approved the rezoning to get the land for a new library.
“I call it a bribe. They literally offered the town, ‘give us what we want, and we’ll give you five acres,’“Wall said. He is afraid the medical complex will destroy his property value.
“It was zoned to give a buffer between the commercial zone and the residential zone,” he said.
Hearings on the case are scheduled for March 25 in Milford Superior Court. A copy of the lawsuit is posted at the end of this article.
While the Route 67 spot is clearly the town’s choice for a new library, officials are also investigating whether it can be built on town-owned land. Click here to read information from the library building committee.
