Westford's library is running in three kinds of space this fall. Books and holds are handled at a second-floor branch on Route 40. Storytime meets on the third floor of Roudenbush. Passes and some talks are reserved or streamed online. The J.V. Fletcher Library building at 50 Main Street is still a construction site, and WestfordCAT reported in August that its reopening had slipped from November to March 2027.
Each service that couldn't fit into the temporary branch is one the renovated building is designed to make more room for. Read that way, this winter's map works as a guide to where things are now and as a preview of what comes back.
The Route 40 branch: a pickup counter more than a reading room
The interim library is on the second floor of 515 Groton Road and has been open there since April 22, 2025. According to the library's hours page, updated in August 2026, the branch keeps these hours:
- Monday through Thursday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Friday: 1 to 5 p.m.
- Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sunday: closed
The building works differently from Main Street. There are browsing areas for children, young adults and adults. The adult area carries new books, magazines, newspapers, audiobooks and DVDs. Most of the collection sits in closed stacks, though, and staff retrieve items on request. So the quickest way to get a specific book is to place a hold and let staff pull it, not to walk in and look for it on a shelf.
Holds from other libraries arrive on weekday deliveries, and curbside handoff is available. The library's building project FAQ says patrons keep access to the collections of all the libraries in the Commonwealth. The branch also has a public computer and a copier. On its copy and print page, the library says printing from its public computers is free, but that page doesn't describe the Groton Road setup specifically.
The temporary site has no meeting rooms. Any program that needs a room has to be held somewhere else.
Without meeting rooms, programs moved out
Group programs that need a room have gone elsewhere, mostly to the third floor of Roudenbush. The library's October storytime schedule, published in WestfordCAT's October 9 library roundup, places all three weekly storytimes there:
| Storytime | When | Ages |
|---|---|---|
| Three & Up | Tuesdays, 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. | 3 to 6 |
| Time for Tots | Wednesdays, 10:30 to 11 a.m. | 15 months to 3 years |
| Baby Lapsit | Thursdays, 10:30 to 11 a.m. | Birth to walking |
Each one runs as an 8-week session. Registration is recommended, and signing up enrolls a child for the full session and adds the family to reminder emails and change notices.
Not everything left Groton Road. Small programs that fit in the Children's Room stayed. Older kids and teens are split between the two buildings, and some events go to Stony Brook Middle School or online. The Town Manager's October 2026 newsletter lists programs at all four. Here is what remains on the October calendar after today:
- 1st Grade Book Club, Tuesday, October 13, 4 to 4:45 p.m., 515 Groton Road. Signing up covers all three meetings: October 13 with Night Owl Night, November 10 with Night Sky and December 8 with Erno Rubik and His Magic Cube.
- Stuffie Sleepover, Thursday, October 15, drop-off 2 to 4:30 p.m. at 515 Groton Road. Pickup starts Friday, October 16, at 1 p.m., and photos of the night go up on the Children's Instagram, @jvfletcherkids.
- YA Lost Mummy Escape Room, Thursday, October 22, 4:30 to 6 p.m., Roudenbush third floor. Ages 11 to 14, registration required.
- Even More Haunted Lighthouses of New England, Monday, October 26, 7 p.m., virtual. Author Jeremy D'Entremont presents in a collaboration that includes the Ashland, Chelmsford, Groton and Tewksbury libraries.
- Crypt-Kids Book Club, Wednesday, October 28, 4 p.m., 515 Groton Road. Ages 7 to 10, registration required, with copies of Troubling Tonsils at the Children's Room desk.
Over the course of the project, the library's building project FAQ has named a longer list of hosts. It includes the Westford Recreation Department, Roudenbush, the Westford Museum, the Community Gardens, First Parish Church United, Westford Public Schools and Good Pickin' Farms. The October listings only confirm the venues above, so check each event's location before heading out.
The quieter workarounds
A few services changed in smaller ways.
Book donations. The Friends of the Library can't accept book-sale donations at Groton Road. The drop is a donation bin at First Parish Church United, 48 Main Street, a short walk from the construction site.
Museum passes. Passes are still reserved through the library's museum pass page, which separates digital and printable passes from physical ones that circulate. The temporary-location FAQ doesn't say which physical passes are kept at Groton Road. Printable passes avoid the question.
The Library of Things. The current Library of Things page lists a telescope, hotspots and a Kill A Watt meter. It still says items are borrowed and returned at J.V. Fletcher. Calling 978-399-2300 before a trip is the dependable way to find out what's on hand.
Magazine giveaway. The library's yearly giveaway of older magazine issues opened for orders on October 1. This year it offers the 2025 issues, first come, first served. Requests go to Bari Pender in Information Services at 978-399-2304, and titles will be ready in December.
What the scattered map adds up to
According to the building project FAQ, the finished building will be 35,159 square feet, 50% larger than before, with the historic Main Street façade unchanged.
| Where it lives this fall | What the renovated building adds |
|---|---|
| Storytime on Roudenbush's third floor | Twice the children's space, plus a children's reading patio |
| Teen programs split between Roudenbush and Groton Road | Three times the young adult space |
| No meeting rooms at the interim branch | New meeting and study options |
| Library of Things items with no confirmed temporary home | A Library of Things in the building plan |
| One public computer and copier on Route 40 | Improved accessibility and bathrooms on every floor |
The services that moved off-site are the ones the old building had least room for, and the expansion targets them directly.
Why spring, and what's still moving
The FAQ puts the project's total cost at $32.5 million. The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners awarded a construction grant of $7,851,994, and a further $829,263 depends on construction benchmarks. Community Preservation Act funds add $60,000, and the library's Foundation committed to raising $1.5 million. About $22 million is town-funded through a debt exclusion. Voters approved it at Special Town Meeting on October 17, 2022, and at the local ballot on November 8, 2022.
State money has continued to arrive during construction. On September 18, Senator John Cronin and Representative Jim Arciero presented a $50,000 legislative earmark to the town for the project. That followed a $100,000 earmark Representative Arciero presented last winter. The library director's note in WestfordCAT's October 2 roundup closes by looking ahead to inviting the legislators back "for the grand Spring re-opening."
WestfordCAT's August report blamed the delay on scheduling with the contractor, Hutter Construction Corporation. It also said "July saw a substantial increase in project activity," with work on interior structure, roofing and window testing. At the same meeting, the joint committee of the Library Board of Trustees and the Permanent Town Building Committee voted to restore a historic chimney on the roof. It left two other changes for a later vote. The project updates page has construction photos through September 30, 2026.
A project schedule dated May 27, 2026 shows construction running to February 15, 2027, the move back finishing by March 31, and a grand opening placeholder of Saturday, April 3, 2027, marked as TBD. That schedule was written before the August delay was reported. The most recent official wording is still "Spring," with no fixed date. Until a date is set, the 1st Grade Book Club's December 8 meeting and the December magazine pickup will both take place at the temporary locations.
Living near a library under construction can raise practical questions, from traffic on Main Street to what a bigger civic building might mean for nearby streets once it reopens. The Naroian Group follows projects like this one closely across Westford and the surrounding towns. If you'd like to talk through how the J.V. Fletcher Library project fits into your plans, book a local market consult with Sandra.
