Lisa Preney misunderstands the Educational Specifications for Falmouth’s new elementary school when she concludes in her May 12 letter that the new school’s library offsets the needs, or replaces any functions, of the Falmouth Memorial Library.

The new elementary school was designed to permit community use of non-classroom areas outside of school hours while maintaining the security of classroom spaces. This means that the new school’s library, cafeteria/multipurpose room, and gym were designed to be accessible to community members for use after school hours while access to classroom space would be restricted. The building was intentionally designed with these spaces centrally located at the building’s core for ease of access and while maintaining security for classrooms.

At no time during the many advisory committee meetings (all open to the public) and public forums about the school’s design was an intent to create a public children’s library within the walls of the new elementary school either expressed or implied. In fact, due to security concerns and the fact that we were building a facility with state education funds, we intentionally stayed away from the “public library within a public school” model that one sees in some areas of the state.

The Falmouth School Department invites the entire community to visit the new elementary school this fall when open houses are held and we hope that all will take advantage of the meeting and play space resources that each of Falmouth’s schools offer through their gyms, cafeterias, theater, and libraries.

Karen Farber
Falmouth School Board