Town Accepts $70k for Library Restoration

Scott F. Nolan is a man with a mission, several actually. A public servant with the state by day, working to support people with disabilities in their communities, by night he is an adjunct- professor-of-practice at Bristol Community College preparing the next generation of human service professionals.. That’s still not enough, though, so for the past 16 years, Nolan has also served as president of the Franklin Library Association, the historic non-profit that rescued Ben Franklin’s books from neglect back in the 1850s and helped to fund and operate the Franklin library for more than 100 years.

During Nolan’s tenure, he and Treasurer Armand Fernandez have worked to steward and grow the organizations remaining funds, disbursing them especially on a wide range of preservation and restoration projects related to the library and its contents.

In December, the pair made it official, making a gift of $70,000, approved by their board, to fund a final tranche of library projects. “We are finally winding down the organization, 150 years since our first incorporation, and these funds will help ensure that Franklin’s beautiful library and its important collections will be there for the town’s people in another century,” said Nolan.

The Town Council voted to accept the gift on December 14.

(Image: detail of library bas relief, Paul Vicario photographer)