Marblehead Abbot Libary Supporters Cheer Huge Renovation Vote Win

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead's vote to authorize a $9.5 million override to renovate the Abbot Library came as a welcomed relief to those who have worked for the better part of six years on the campaign to modernize the historic library.

That the vote was so overwhelming was a restoration of faith at how much the 144-year-old library means to so many town residents.

The library override was one of two on the Marblehead ballot — along with a new pump truck for the fire department — that passed overwhelmingly on Tuesday. The unofficial results as of Wednesday had 3,008 votes (69.1 percent) in favor of the renovation and 1,340 (30.9 percent) against.

"This was we agreeing that this is all of our's library," said EuRim Chun, Vice-chair of the Library Board of Trustees and Chair of the committee to pass the override. "For me, very personally, it's something I'm very proud of that the town said 'yes' to our history of 144 years of owning the library and taking care of it."

The library recently hired a new director in Kimberly Grad, from Brooklyn, N.Y., with experience in transitioning libraries through construction. While the building will have to be closed during the renovation, plans are to keep most or all library services available in some way.

While Chun said it's too soon after the vote to know when the renovations might begin in earnest, the process to "bring a 21st-century library to our 17th-century town" could be completed by the fall of 2023.

"We just kept on trying to get everyone educated and informed," Chun said of the campaign. "This was not a beautification project. This was an essential project."

The library's last renovation had been more than 30 years ago and it was running the risk of becoming obsolete. Now, instead of a charming old building with books, it will become a first-class meeting and education center for the town.

The Friends of Abbot Library were able to raise about $1 million that it will gift back to the town — leaving the town to pay for the remaining $8.5 million through the override.

"This project really continues our long-standing tradition of being a public and private partnership," Chun said. "We serve all demographics in the town and this is public gem that we have to take care of."

Chun said she knew going into the campaign that an override request must be well-justified to convince voters to pass, so the committee and volunteers "really dug deep and did our homework so we could answer every question."

"We did as much as we could to bring everyone in and make them understand and question: 'Could you really live in a community without a library?' Chun said. "That's what we were talking about (without the renovation)."

If all stays on schedule, residents will be talking about a historic building with state-of-the-art features in a bit more than two years from now.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)