Stephen Cicilline elected president of Greenville Library Trustees

SMITHFIELD - For the first time in a decade, the Greenville Public Library's Board of Trustees has a new president - Stephen Cicilline, a lawyer who has been a board member for the past six years.

Cicilline's election comes at a critical time for the library, which has started planning for a major expansion that would more than double the size of its existing building at 573 Putnam Pike.

Cicilline, 67, succeeds Domine Vescera Ragosta, who decided to step down after 10 years, but will remain active as a board member and a member of the library's building committee.

Trustees at their recent annual meeting gave the committee authority to interview architects for the planned addition and to report back to the full board with a recommendation.

The library in 2004 had proposed building a new structure on town land off Pleasant View Avenue, but voters rejected a bond issue to finance it. Library leaders expect that an addition will cost substantially less than a new building.

They have said that the library's patronage has been steadily increasing for a dozen years, and has spiked dramatically since the economic downturn as people use its computers and other resources in job searches.

The library in the past had been blocked from expanding its 50-year-old building because of a deeded right-of-way that ran past its front door as access to a landlocked private home at 571 Putnam Pike.

When the 1940s-vintage house recently went into foreclosure, the town, which supplies some 70 percent of the library's operating budget, provided the trustees a long-term, $200,000 loan to buy the house, a move that removed the obstacle to expansion.

Library officials are hoping to have an expansion plan in place while the state is still offering a 50-percent reimbursement for such projects.

Ragosta has said that the library needs to add at least 20,000 square feet to the existing, 15,000-square-foot building to meet industry standards for a community Smithfield's size.

Cicilline has a long history of prior and current public service. He was town solicitor from 1972-78, was the School Committee solicitor for 20 years, and is the attorney for the Greenville Water District.

Trustees recently presented Ragosta with a plaque for her 18 years of service on the board, including her decade as president and five years as vice president.

Also at the annual meeting, Terri Kless was named board vice president; Heather Grogan, treasurer; and Elaine Farley, secretary.

The other trustees are Virginia Harnois, Milo St. Angelo, Harold Hemberger, Sue Marineau, Julie Ip, and Barbara Lysick, who is also chair of the building committee.