Library to Get Much Needed Modernization

At a recent budget workshop, the City Council made an important decision . The City's reserves have far exceeded the City's own guidelines for several years and now the Council will develop a prudent plan to draw down the reserves, while holding the line on taxes. One of the top priorities identified by the Council is funding for a modernization of the library.

This modernization is not an expansion. I admit to being a bit sad about that as there are many services the public asks for and the library would like to provide, but can't due to a lack of space. However, when the Library studied an expansion even modest proposals came up with a large price tag. Given our current economic climate, the Library Board rightly felt that asking for large amount of tax dollars to be spent on an expansion was not the right decision.

However, beyond the expansion there were real infrastructure needs involved in the plan. Needs like a leaky roof. Needs like dangerous staff stairways which have caused staff to suffer injuries. Needs like an HVAC system that requires regular intervention to keep it running at all. The maintenance the library deferred so that it would not duplicate expenses were there to be an expansion can be deferred no logner.

Then there are the more programatic needs of the library. While the types of services that people have come to depend on the library for have changed, the Adult Services room has not. Fortunately, the Library has had a professionally developed plan created so that the space can better serve the needs today, and the anticipated needs of tomorrow. One such feature? Better group study space. While the footprint of the library won't change, how it uses that space can and should be improved.

Of course all of these projects come with a price tag. In this case the price tag is about 2.5 million dollars. It is my sincere hope that the Council follow through on its pledge to fund this full amount, remembering that this amount is already a scaled down compromise of the true library needs.

As pointed out during the budget meeting, the Library is used by 1100 people daily, making it the most used City government building. The Library consistently receives the highest satisfaction results in city surveys. Our library is a gem and it's great that the City Council recognizes its value and will spend some of the excess reserves to ensure the library a brighter future.