The E.C. Scranton Memorial Library Board of Trustees has announced its selection of a new director, Sunnie Scarpa. The new director is set to begin work in May and will lead a team that’s both beginning a major renovation and expansion and adjusting to new temporary quarters.

Former library director Beth Crowley announced her resignation in mid-August 2018 and formally stepped down from her post in September, following a difficult budget season and continuing challenges with a complex building project. Crowley left to lead the Cheshire Public Library. Following Crowley’s departure, former library employee Laura Downes stepped in as interim library director.

However, even with Downes temporarily taking the helm, the library trustees made it clear that they would immediately begin the search for a new director. After four months, that search is now complete.

According to a press release from the Library Board of Trustees, the board voted unanimously in December to hire Scarpa.

In describing Scarpa’s qualifications, the release said, “Scarpa started volunteering in her local library at eight years old. Since then she’s been a shelver, a reference librarian, and a teen librarian at the New Haven Free Public Library and, since 2013, the head of children’s services at the Wallingford Public Library. Scarpa’s accomplishments include creating a new STEM-focused maker space within the children’s room, scheduled for completion in June 2019, offering professional workshops throughout New England, and successfully cultivating partnerships with the Wallingford Public Schools, Choate Rosemary Hall, Literacy Volunteers of Meriden/Wallingford, and the Spanish Community of Wallingford.

Scarpa graduated from Gordon College, received her master of library science degree from Southern Connecticut State University, and is completing a certification in financial success for non-profits at Cornell University.

Scarpa also served as the board chair for Wallingford-based early childhood education advocacy organization WECARE, and is currently a member of the Connecticut Library Association’s career development committee and has served as that group’s recording secretary and children’s section co-chair.

“When she’s not at work she enjoys running, rock climbing, and reading (of course!). She and her husband Steve will welcome their first child in March,” the release states.

Library Board of Trustees President Beth Coyne said the trustees looked at multiple applicants and Scarpa stood out.

“Sunnie Scarpa’s vision for library service inspired the board and feels right for Madison,” she said. “We believe that Sunnie will be a great fit with our strong team and together they will take our newly renovated library to the next level.”

In the release, Scarpa said she is looking forward to her new position.

“I am looking forward to getting to know the community so that together we can create the library of the future,” she said. “From a young age, public libraries helped shape my life and expand my horizons. I relish the opportunity to apply all my knowledge and skill to ensure that generations of Madison residents will be able to achieve their goals and unlock their potential at the Scranton Memorial Library.”

Scarpa is set to begin work on May 6; Interim Director Laura Downes will stay in her current post until that date.

Building Construction

The plan to renovate the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library was approved by the voters in 2017. Specifically, voters approved bonding $9 million for the renovation project and the library pledge to raise $6 million to cover the remaining project costs.

From the day the renovation was approved to now, the project has undergone significant changes including a shift in architects, projected cost overruns, energy operating cost concerns, and the proposed elimination of the Hull Building.

By far one of the largest challenges the Library Building Committee encountered came up this summer after the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) threatened to withhold a large part of the renovation project funding over preservation of the Hull Building. The issue took time to resolve, but the committee and SHPO were eventually able to come to terms, sparing the project any more funding challenges or timeline issues.

With all approvals in place, the committee put the project out to bid this past fall. Eight qualified bidders participated and the winning bid went to Enterprise Builders for a total cost of $9,847,952, under the roughly $11 million construction threshold for the project.

Since the construction bid was lower than anticipated, the library is now looking at adding back in some work that had been cut out of the project and punted as deferred maintenance when the committee was looking at anything to try to bring the total cost down.

Coyne previously said that work includes things like repairs to the existing roof, repointing the masonry on the historical portion of the building, and rethinking the financing on the photovoltaic (PV) panels for the roof.

The construction will likely start in the winter because the library is looking to a mid-January construction contract signing, according to committee member and trustee Henry Griggs. Griggs also pointed out that the contractor will be able to do work in the winter even if weather is poor because there is work to be done inside a portion of the existing building that will remain.

The Temporary Space

The library’s last day at its Boston Post Road location was Oct. 6, 2018. The library formally opened up in a temporary space, located at 1250 Durham Road on the Madison Earth Care property, on Nov. 15 with a ribbon cutting, attended by library patrons, members of the Madison Chamber of Commerce, and local elected officials.

The transition was made under interim Downes, who stepped in after Crowley resigned in mid-August.