Every child and family in our community will be affected if the Select Board votes to further cut the Children’s Room hours on Monday, August 7. Sign this petition to show the Select Board your support for the Library's proposal of about 50 Children’s Room hours while temporarily housed at the Benton Library.

The Children's Room is currently open to kids and families about 60 hours a week. Our library staff proposed a slightly reduced Children’s Room schedule at about 50 hours a week during the 2-year demolition and construction period. This compromise enables the Children's Room to be housed at the Benton Library building on Oakley Road while balancing the desires of the immediate neighborhood with the large benefit to the entire Belmont Community. However, citing the “impact to the neighborhood,” the Select Board is leaning toward cutting the Children’s Room hours even further — possibly to as few as 20 hours — for the next 2 years.

Children Across Our Entire Community Are Affected

Morning, afternoon, after-school, early evening, and weekend hours all provide essential services to our community:

1. Early evening hours are irreplaceable for families whose guardian(s) work during the day.
2. Morning and afternoon hours are critical community resources for children Pre-K and younger, and their families.
3. After school and weekend hours are vital for our lower and upper elementary children, who have limited school library time.
4. Morning and afternoon hours are especially essential for all children during the summer.
5. The public library is the only viable library in town. With a total budget under $300k, our school libraries lack the resources to serve the community, are inaccessible to non-students, and are closed over the summer.

What’s at Stake: Community Values and Economic Benefits

If adopted, these reduced hours will severely reduce access, limit educational opportunity, and remove a vital asset of our entire community — as our students continue to work on academic recovery following the pandemic. These limited hours may lead to children and families being denied access due to the 50-person building occupancy limits. (The popular library events will be held at larger locations.)

The Benton Library is a taxpayer-owned public asset. It is prudent to use town resources for whole community benefit, rather than spending scarce budget and staff resources to rent and convert other space into a temporary Children's Room. Further cutting hours and access would deprive the broader Belmont community of huge economic benefits. Last fall, one analysis found the Children's Room provides at least $4.5 million in economic benefit every year — nearly half of the more than $10 million in annual value our Belmont Public Library provides to the whole community.

Several board members of the Friends of the Benton Library spoke against having the Children’s Room open for more than 20 hours/week due to traffic and parking congestion. Further reducing the operating hours will make their concerns worse by consolidating visits and parking to very limited parts of the day.

Please sign, add your reason, and share this petition. Then join us August 7 at 7pm in the Select Board Conference Room at Town Hall to save the Children’s Room.

We believe the Belmont Public Library Children’s Room supports early childhood development, educational, social and emotional growth, community, and a lifelong love of learning — in an environment where all are welcome, and everything is free.

We believe the Select Board should join more than 6,800 voters who said YES last fall, and fully and emphatically support our library services during the transition, and by trusting the Library staff and trustees to manage the Children's Room schedule during the two years of construction without additional restrictions.