Connecticut's Library Heritage

Harry Bennett Branch Library
Stamford

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Architect:  David Finci of the Hillier Group
Total Cost:  $4.4 million
State Grant: $350,000
Size:  24,000 square feet

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by Alice Knapp

The dramatic, new Harry Bennett Branch Library has been a resounding success with the Stamford community. Opened in January 2000, and sharing the campus of a public middle school, the 24,000 square foot facility replaces the very tired Turn of River Branch, which had been operating in a cramped former church since the late 1960's. Project costs exceeded $4.4 million, of which $3.5 million was provided by the City of Stamford and $350,000 by a state library construction grant. 

The library is named for long-time branch supporter and benefactor, Stamford realtor Harry Bennett. It was Mr. Bennett who, in the mid 1960's, was instrumental in getting the original Turn of River Branch built. Over the years he has been a tireless friend to the Ferguson Library. 

The new library has a soaring interior with skylights that flood the space with light. The result is a spectacular, modern building that is a delight just to enter. The floor plan is open; ramps and stairs link different sections of the library. A 120-seat auditorium, a meeting room, and a children's program area are included in the facility.
State-of-the-art when it comes to technology, the library is equipped with 43 computers-28 for public use, 15 for staff. Public computers provide catalog services, electronic databases, Internet access, and word processing; several are dedicated to pre-school multi-media use. The branch has the capacity to add up to a dozen more workstations for the public, as well as laptop Internet access.

"The Harry Bennett Branch incorporates the latest advances in information technology," says library president Ernest A. DiMattia, Jr. "We are also no longer limited by lack of space, so our ability to serve the public has expanded." In fact, as soon as the branch opened, users were clamoring for extended hours. The former Turn of River Branch had operated on a limited schedule, and the new branch maintained the same hours until additional city funding in January 2001 made it possible to keep Harry Bennett open longer. Now, the library is open six days a week, four days until 8 p.m. 

Harry Bennett supervisor Susan Baldwin says that with the new hours librarians hope to offer more daytime programs for young children, as well as additional adult computer training in the evenings. "We expect the library to be even more heavily used now," says Ms. Baldwin. 

The branch averages about 13,000 visitors a month and circulates some 22,000 items per month. In its first six months of operation, the number of people attending library programs more than doubled attendance at the former Turn of River Branch.

The Harry Bennett Library was designed by architect David Finci of the Hillier Group in New York City and completed by Frank Mercede and Sons, Inc.,  general contractors based in Stamford. It is accessible to people with disabilities and has on-site parking for 75 vehicles. It also garages the Ferguson's Bookmobile and "Purple Bus."