Why can’t we just move the Children’s Department to the front of the building?

The grant program requires that a renovation project touch all parts of a building: the Commissioners don’t want to give little grants for minor changes, but to solve fully a town’s needs for the next twenty years. Better services for Children’s and Young Adults are a foremost need, but the rest of the Library also needs redesign and modernization. The proposed Library renovation would solve all the identified problems and meet real needs.

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1. Why are you doing this right now? Why the time pressure?
2. Didn’t we just remodel the Library a few years ago? Why do we need to do it again?
3. Why can’t we just move the Children’s Department to the front of the building?
4. I’m shocked at the total cost -- $26.2 million seems huge. Why is it so much?
5. How would that affect my property tax bill?
6. I heard that the state would have given a 75 percent grant to a joint Library project submitted by two towns. Is that true? If so, why didn’t the Trustees submit a joint application for a regional Hin
7. At Town Meeting 2017, the Library warrant article said there would be other renovation plans besides this one, for the town to consider. Do those plans exist?
8. Couldn’t you have just waited until the next round of state funding?
9. If Town Meeting does not approve the funding, can’t we apply again next time?
10. In the last renovation, I remember the Library moved to the old East School while the work went on. That building is gone now. Where would the Library move temporarily this time?
11. If we approve this at Town Meeting 2019, how long would it be before the renovated Library opens?
12. Why can’t we see a model, or more detailed outside or inside color drawings?
13. We have so many other needs in Hingham: a new school to replace aging Foster School, at least one new fire station to replace 75-year-old buildings, a cramped Town Hall and even more cramped Senior Ce