EIEs (Connet Building)

I see a lot of scaffolding on the EIES building (aka Connet Building and original location of South Orange library) on Scotland Road. Anybody know what is going on there?  I was hoping that one day this building would be connected to the current SO library, with the result being a state of the art library that we could all be proud of.


It is going to be part of the library. That's all that I know.


Right now, they are replacing the roof. The pie in the sky plan is to connect the two buildings. Money, as always, is the issue. Friends of South Orange Public Library will need to raise the money since the Library can't itself and the Village is unlikely to foot the bill for such a project. I have not seen a general fundraising drive yet.


We're temporarily doing broadcasts from Seton Hall while the roof is being repaired. I don't know much about the larger plans though.


From an SOPL email this afternoon:

Why is the Connett Memorial Library building swathed in scaffolding and looking Christo-esque?

Moving towards the future is the Connett, built in 1896 and added to in
1929, as seen with this historic roof restoration.  The original
dedicated library building of South Orange, the Connett was added to the
Montrose Park Historic District National Register as a Key Building in
1997.  This project has been undertaken by the Village of South Orange
and supported by funding from the Essex County Recreation & Open
Space Trust Fund 2014 Local Aid Program.  I’m happy to answer any
questions about this project, this library, and/or the future.

by Melissa Kopecky, library director  
"mailto:mkopecky@sopl.org" 


Melissa is the hardest working woman in library-hood.  grin 


So glad the Connett Building (original SO library) is being preserved.  Any updates on financing full restoration?


Curious to know why a project of this scale would begin if funding wasn't available?


it is roof work.  A dry roof preserves what you have.  The rest can come later.


I think they got a grant to preserve the roof as the building is historical.

The friends of the SOPL cannot raise the funds needed for a new library. A separate foundation needs to raise those funds.


Why a separate foundation?  The town surely can bond it, no?


I don't know, but I hope they could do that.


Not trying to hijack thread, but I find it fascinating (euphemism for are you F*cking kidding me) that in a town that where the taxpayers are funding a performing arts facility  and paid for a piece of sculpture, that people say "oh, for  a public library (which was GIVEN to South Orange by Connett family land and private donations 100+ years ago) we need a foundation to fund the restoration."

Having said that, SO Village, for reasons I don't fully understand, has been a terrible steward of public structures for the last 40 years (i.e., not doing proper preventive maintenance), creating the situation we now face in multiple locations.

Anyway, happy to make a donation to preserve Connett, but a library is the kind of thing taxpayers do normally support.

Sometimes I feel like I've landed on another planet when I try to discuss with SO residents the things that are "normal" public expenditures and things that should really be supported by private donations.


Please note that this is the FORMER library building we are discussing.  The library has been in a new building for almost 50 years, and the question is what to do with a lovely old building that the library moved out of many years ago.

As the library's own website says, the 1968 building was paid for mostly by a Village bond issue, when the Connet building was found not to meet modern needs.  So yes, we DO pay for things like other communities do, once we decide what is needed.  That discussion needs to be much more active before you can accuse the Village of failing to pay for needed library facilities.

I don't know all of the history of why the library totally moved out of the building decades ago, but they did move to a new building rather than continue to use the Connet building. To me that isn't neglect of the library as an institution, although it may be neglect of a underutilized old civic building.

In the future, there could be plans that use the older building as an expansion to the library, but there needs to be a detailed plan that suggests why we would invest in a larger footprint in an increasingly digital world.  I look forward to a vigorous debate on what the right plan would be moving forward.

Edited to add:  I looked it up and the SOPL gets roughly a million dollars in the SO annual budget. I have trouble looking at that number and making the accusation that we don't support the library, although we can always look at whether we should do more (or differently).


@anniesims: is there a proposed budget yet for the new space? 


The SOPL is the Village facility that we use the most, not just for ourselves, but our grandchildren when we have them for the day. We love the SOPL, but it is woefully small. Just compare it to Maplewood's  - no comparison. We do use the Maplewood library quite often, both for ourselves and to take out books for our grandchildren. Because of its size, the Maplewood library is able to house many, many more books, and it is always busy, as is the SO library.

Even in this digital age, people of all ages use the library. We pay a lot in taxes, probably in the upper range. If the Village has to bond for the Connett, it is one bond that we will gladly endorse.


There needs to be support from those folks running the town. The mayor and council need to have it on their radar, which they do not seem to. They need to hear from the good folks of S.O. that they want them to take the lead on this or else it won't happen.


If the library has a big plan that they want pushed by the residents, then the first step is to share it with us, rather than continuing to attack our elected officials for not being lined up behind it already. Has there been a formal presentation of a plan, or even an idea of a plan, to anyone?  I can't offer support for an expansion/bond etc. until there is some plan out there, and some sense of what it will both provide to and cost residents. 

The Library is celebrating its 150th anniversary, which seems like a wonderful time to think about directions for the future.  I'm not a library insider, but have been looking for any information about what the "grand plan" might be, and not finding anything other than vague references to connecting the two buildings and expanding. 

This morning I've spent time that I can't afford on the Village, Library and Friends of Library sites looking for any bandwagon onto which I might hop, but haven't found anything.  I live in hope that there is a big plan/dream to be made explicit as part of the 150th reflections.  I agree that improved library facilities would be a relatively easy bond to support, but I need to see ideas before I start pushing for higher taxes to fund them.


susan1014 said:

If the library has a big plan that they want pushed by the residents, then the first step is to share it with us, rather than continuing to attack our elected officials for not being lined up behind it already. Has there been a formal presentation of a plan, or even an idea of a plan, to anyone?  I can't offer support for an expansion/bond etc. until there is some plan out there, and some sense of what it will both provide to and cost residents. 

The Library is celebrating its 150th anniversary, which seems like a wonderful time to think about directions for the future.  I'm not a library insider, but have been looking for any information about what the "grand plan" might be, and not finding anything other than vague references to connecting the two buildings and expanding. 

This morning I've spent time that I can't afford on the Village, Library and Friends of Library sites looking for any bandwagon onto which I might hop, but haven't found anything.  I live in hope that there is a big plan/dream to be made explicit as part of the 150th reflections.  I agree that improved library facilities would be a relatively easy bond to support, but I need to see ideas before I start pushing for higher taxes to fund them.

Yes, there is a formal plan. I went to see the presentation.

https://www.tapinto.net/articles/south-orange-public-library-renovation-takes-next


Nothing in that article resembles a formal plan.


Agreed...no details, no link, no mention of a presentation (perhaps the link is to the wrong article?).  And, if the date stamp is correct, it says that we got a grant over two years ago to create a plan. 

Actually, a little online research shows that we got the planning grant in 2009, so I'm sure there is a report somewhere...maybe this wasn't a BOT priority during the recession and the Torpey years?

Here is a better and more recent article for those able to access the Village Green.  It suggests that there is planning well underway, perhaps focusing on community and meeting space, and mentions that tours of the Connett building will be given during the SOPL birthday bash on the afternoon of Sept 17. 

http://villagegreennj.com/community/150th-year-south-orange-library-lays-vision-future/

I can't be there that day, but am eager to hear what is under consideration, since I've given up on finding any detail online. (Hint to library...if your plan includes helping South Orange move into the digital future, it probably makes sense to get details online pronto!)

ctrzaska said:

Nothing in that article resembles a formal plan.

I'm sorry but that was the best I could do. I'm sure the library has it to view though.


Thank you for the link...it was enough for me to reconstruct a bit of the paper trail. 



susan1014 said:









Edited to add:  I looked it up and the SOPL gets roughly a million dollars in the SO annual budget. I have trouble looking at that number and making the accusation that we don't support the library, although we can always look at whether we should do more (or differently).

By way of information, by statute NJ has a minimum library tax of 33 cents on each $1000 of equalized value of all assessable property in town. For 2016, the minimum library tax is $874,000.  The total budgeted amount is $1 million.



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