SHUTESBURY – While the Spear Memorial Library has a big place in the hearts of Shutesbury residents, it doesn’t feel airy like a bookshelf. It feels small as a shoebox.

“Our current building is less than 800 square feet,” said Head Librarian Mary Ann Antonellis. “It’s one room, and really all there is, is a circulation desk, a tiny work area, and the stacks. There’s no comfortable area to sit.”

The days may be numbered for the iconic red-and-white building behind Town Hall. A forum for residents was hosted on Sept. 23, seeking input as the town prepares an application for the Building Program of the Small Library Pilot Project. Shutesbury is one of two towns still in consideration for a grant from the program, which will cover seventy-five percent of the cost of the structure, excluding paving, landscaping, furnishings and computers.

Details of the new library project need to be clarified before some residents feel comfortable. There is also distrust of town leadership that needs to be dealt with, and bruised feelings from previous projects.

“You’re asking us to trust the cabal that make the decisions in this town, and who don’t care about the people who are struggling,” said Jill Marland. “Can I trust this community to use the funds we have and not burden the people of this town?”

Diane Jacoby posted in the online chat list of the forum, “Only a small percent of registered voters actually attend Town Meeting. Folks in town don’t participate. Voter intimidation is very real at Town Meeting. It is not a comfortable place to be for many residents.”

There was some confusion about what was authorized by the vote at spring Town Meeting. Resident Craig Martin noted that the vote was to proceed for a new library, and that it passed with overwhelming support. “So the question should not be: should we have a new library?” Martin said. “That’s been decided.”

Martin was corrected, however, by Leslie Luchonot, who clarified the vote at spring Town Meeting was to take advantage of the state’s pilot program. “The Town Meeting article was to give the Select Board and Library Trustees the go ahead to apply,” Martin said.

The need for a new library has been glaringly plain to the community for quite a while. Ajay Kashu, a resident, commented that the town has supported the effort for a new library for a number of years, both financially and at the ballot box.

“It wasn’t just a single vote at our last Town Meeting,” Kashu said. “There’s been a vote every year … to approve our town’s budget, which includes an allocation to build a library … So every year we have been allocating $25,000 to a fund specifically for the purpose of building a library. So there has been support every year for building a library.”

Kate Cell, chair of the Library Trustees, commented that a previous effort to build a new library would have taken land from Town Common. That option didn’t prove popular, she said, and under the Small Library Pilot Project, “We can’t do renovations.”

A new building is the only option under the state-level grant program that will fund seventy-five percent of a new library. A quarter of the project must be paid for with local funds, which are already in the bank. According to Antonellis, the town has saved about half of the $522,000 currently available for the local contribution. Library fundraisers did the rest.

“The trustees have been raising money since 2011,” Antonellis said. Fundraising for the project indicates the necessary local support. “Last spring we did library giving day … We raised $21,000 in one day, in a town of 1,700 people. We had a tag sale in June that made $2,400. We collected bottles and cans, and saved those nickels for the new library…Right now we’re doing a clothing drive…and selling it to a reselling store. We’re always doing a fundraiser.”

Antonellis discounted criticisms by callers who complained there was insufficient community input. She mentioned a wish list tree on Town Common. An event at the Shutesbury Athletic Club drew a hundred people. Information about the new library project has been written up in the town’s newsletter. Twenty-five people went on a tour of the Erving Library. Antonellis went to Shutesbury’s elementary school to survey parents about the library project, to learn what they feel are necessary elements of the new library.

“What are the specific components or elements?” asked Luchonot. “I think that’s a crucial question.”

Antonellis responded from memory. Program areas included the circulation desk and directors office, staff work and break stations, adult media collection and quiet area, periodicals, childrens and teen rooms, community meeting room, outdoor space, small study collaborative space, an entrance and lobby area, equipment/telecom closet, restrooms, janitors closet and adult computer area.

“Whether or not we succeed in getting a small library pilot grant or not, I think it will help the to have these discussions about what we need and can afford in a new library,” Antonellis said. “We hope to build a new library that meets basic public health and santitation standards for patrons and workers.”

Cell, during the online forum, clarified that since about 12 percent of costs are not covered by the Small Library Pilot Project, the town will pay more than a quarter of the bill.

“The state would pay an estimated two-thirds of the total cost of the new library. It’s a lot more than the usual grant process, so it’s an extraordinary opportunity,” Cell said.

Antonellis emphasized that designing and building a library must be affordable for the community.

“We’ll put all the pieces together, see what it looks like. Then we’ll have total square footage, the site we’ll be using, and how much that site will cost us. We hear, loud and clear, that people are concerned about the cost of this project,”Antonellis said. “We’ll keep fundraising until we can afford it.”