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Many members of the community are unaware of the time and effort put in by boards members to develop the proposed new location.  The following is a timeline of key events to help people understand that none of the decisions were made hastily.

November – December 2003

o   Planning committee consisting of community members, library staff representatives and Library Board members, meet to discuss the future of the Westfield Public Library.  A Statement of Direction was developed over the course of three meetings (3-4 hours each). 

·         January 2004 Statement of Direction

o   Mission Statement: The Westfield Public Library will strive, in partnership with local organizations, to provide quality services, materials and facilities that fulfill the education, informational, technological, cultural and recreational needs of the entire Westfield Washington Township Community.

o   Over the next five years, the library will focus on the five following areas of service which will continue to make the library a destination for the Westfield Washington Township Community:

§  Education/Learning

§  Current Topics & Titles

§  Commons

§  Partnerships

§  Technology 

·         February – December 2004

o   The library board feeling that an expansion to the current facility would be a key element in order to meet the service directions outlined in the Statement of Direction, formed an Expansion Project Committee. 

·         July 2004

o   Analytical studies of the libraries space needs were done by both Designplan and Halstead Architects.  Multiple options for expanding the current building were presented to the library board by both firms.  The decision was made to continue working with Designplan to provide a building program which would establish square footage needs for expanding the current building. 

·         November 2004

o   It was decided that to meet the needs of the library for the next ten years, an additional 29,000 square feet would need to be added to the current building.  However, this building program posed the following problems:

§  Allowed for only 5 additional parking spaces

§  Potential traffic flow problems

§  Possible replacement of entire HVAC system to accommodate for expansion

§  Possible suspension of some services during construction

§  Increased costs due to a two phase project

o   With those issues in mind, the Library Board started to consider the possibility of building a new facility instead of expanding the current facility.

·         January 2005

o   The Westfield Washington School Board indicated that they had a desire to explore the option of co-locating a new library facility on the grounds of the property owned by the school system and presented the library board with some options to consider.   

·         February 2005

o   The Library Board contacted Bob Robey to look at possible sites to relocate the Library.

·         March 2005

o   Duane Lutz of Katz Sapper & Miller recommended that a new facility be built based on his financial analysis.  He was hired by the board to determine whether expanding the current location, building a new facility or building a branch would be the most cost effective.

o   At the same board meeting Dr. Keen asked the board to consider the Tomlinson Road Site if a new library was to be built.

o   The Library Board at that meeting decided to pursue the Tomlinson Road site on which to build a new library.

·         April 2006

o   Initial Public Input meeting on the Tomlinson Road Community Complex.  Certain members of the community expressed concerned.  To explore these concerns further visit the Opposition Page.

·         June 2006

o   The library performed an informal survey on where our patrons live and how they get to the library. See the results on the Things Considered Page.