Cranbury Unveils Plans for New Library

The Cranbury Library board of trustees unveiled a concept plan for a new $3.2 million library Monday night, which would be located off of North Main Street and tentatively open in 2015.

The building would be privately funded, according to trustees, with fundraising managed by the nonprofit Cranbury Public Library Foundation.

KSS Architects, of Princeton, developed the plans pro bono, and the library foundation will need to raise $2.7 million of the $3.2 million needed for its construction. Currently, the library foundation has $500,000 in reserve for its construction.

“We feel that it will be wonderful to have a free-standing library that will serve as a community living room and welcome everyone,” Cranbury Library Director Marilyn Mullen said. “A great place to encourage reading and life-long learning.  We think it will be a draw for businesses and keep the downtown area and Main Street vital by having another destination in Cranbury and keeping people in Cranbury.”

The new library, which would be approximately 10,000 square feet, would be across from the Cranbury School, between the tennis court and baseball field, Mullen said. She also said that there would be no parking spots would be taken away when the new building opens and that there may be some parking added.

The current 6,700 square foot library serves the school and public. That would change when the new library opens. The current library, which was built in the 1960s, would only serve the school.

Mullen said that the foundation has met with the Cranbury Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Board of Education and now the Township Committee in an effort to educate the public and governing bodies about the project. The next step is for the library foundation to raise by September what they hope will be 5 percent of the money needed for the project. They will then hold events to seek philanthropic donors looking to give back to the community and then appeal to the general public in the spring.

“There is a pressing need; there is an urgent need for an educational facility for the school and the town. The school restricts use during the day and there isn’t enough space. After school we have kids sitting on the floor because there’s not enough space,” Mullen said.

Members of the Township Committee were generally supportive, especially because it would not be funded by taxpayers.

 “In this day in age it’s refreshing to see an organization going out looking to raise private money knowing how tight money is in the public sector,” Committeeman Dan Mulligan said. “I support the raising of private funds for the public library.”

Committeman David Cook said the plans would need to be reviewed.

“I think a library is part of why Cranbury is Cranbury and for Cranbury to continue as we know it, we will need to look to the future and look at what was described here tonight,” he said.

There was some opposition at the meeting.

“I am opposed to it,” said Cranbury resident Connie Bauder. “I think that we don’t need it for the number of people we have and the expense is not justified. Down on Plainsboro Road Plainsboro has just built a huge library, which we are entitled to use with our library card and I just think that you can’t have everything on Main Street. Everybody wants to have their own library and it’s not practical in a monetary sense. So I’m opposed to it.”