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Library officials discuss timeline for new facility
By Justin Goble
Library officials laid out a time line for the new library during their quarterly meeting Monday night (Aug. 14).
Librarian Michael Cartwright said he and Wilson Sims, of Sims and Steele Consulting Agency, recently met with county Manager Ken Westmoreland to determine how to proceed. The library board earlier this year recommended Sims to county commissioners to design and conduct a feasibility study for fund-raising in the community. Commissioners last month approved an approximately 25,000-square-foot building and hired Spartanburg, S.C., architectural firm McMillan Smith and Partners.
“They’re hoping to go to bid early spring of next year,” Cartwright said.
County leaders approved $4.2 million for the new library during this summer’s budget talks. That money will be allocated during the 2007-08 fiscal year, when construction will likely begin.
According to Cartwright, commissioners hope Ronnie Smith of McMillan Smith will meet with community members in September and October to determine what features local residents would like to see in the new building. Obtaining community input during the fall would allow Sims and his consulting agency to develop a fund-raising campaign by the end of the year, Cartwright said.
The consultant previously indicated he needed a preliminary rendering from the architect to show the community when asking for money, Cartwright said. Commissioners expressed a similar view during their July meeting in deciding to hire Smith, son of the late Bill Smith, a former county commissioner and Sylva town board member.
“It’s something you can take to potential donors,” Cartwright said. “(Sims’) concern is that the architect has to come in and engage the community. The rest can be set up and executed by those in charge, but we’re not going anywhere without the approval of the public. To get their approval, you have to solicit their opinions. The architect should have someone on his staff to do that.”
When asked if Smith would go ahead and draw out floor plans, Friends of the Library President Mary Selzer said that would not be possible at this early stage.
“There’s no definitive plans until we know how much money we will have to spend on the building,” Selzer said, adding that it is unclear how much money can be raised from the community.
Library officials will meet again with Westmoreland and Sims today (Thursday), Cartwright said.
Citing a worst-case scenario in which no money was raised from the community, Selzer said it would still be possible to build a fully-furnished 16,000-square-foot building.
Board member Don Williamson, who represents the Cashiers area, said there was the possibility for a much bigger building, just not at the Jackson Plaza site which county and Sylva officials bought in 2004.
“There is money for that, and that’s with the combined library (at Southwestern Community College),” Williamson said. “I think that would be a better spot. It’s more of a downtown area. You have a Lowe’s, Ingle’s and Wal-Mart a stone’s throw away.”
However, this suggestion was not greeted with enthusiasm by the rest of the library board in light of the controversy that surrounded a library location in 2003 when then Commissioners’ Chairman Stacy Buchanan proposed the idea of a shared libarary facility on the SCC campus. Hundreds turned out during a May 2003 hearing to protest the idea, and a committee of county and Sylva officials settled on the Jackson Plaza site, which was purchased in September 2004.
“There’s still lots of opposition to moving the library to SCC,” said library board (and town board) member Maurice Moody. “I’m personally opposed to it. I think the library needs to be in town. Most of us would like it on Main Street, but there’s not a spot to put it. However, I could walk down to Jackson Plaza in five minutes, and there’s sidewalks the whole way.”
“The county has purchased the site,” said board Chairman Howard Allman. “I think we need to proceed in a positive manner to get the best library for $4.2 million. If we get a 30,000-square-foot building, that would be great. If we can’t, then a 16,000-square-foot building is better than what we have.”
In other business Aug. 14:
– Board members discussed a public relations campaign to let the community know what services libraries offer.
Selzer said the current library was inadequate for the community and unable to offer many services that other libraries have. Letting the public know what is available would create interest in the new library, she said.
“If someone’s only experience was using this library, they may not know what services libraries offer,” Selzer said. “We’re concerned people may not know what to ask for when planning for the new library. If we get the word out, we can get people excited and involved. That is critical.”
Fontana Regional Library Director Karen Wallace suggested having laptop computers in the current building to display the services that other libraries around the state offer. Cashiers branch librarian Dottie Brunette said allowing people to fill out “wish lists” of what they want in the new facilities would be another way to get the community involved.
Allman suggested it would be easy to poll people who already use the Jackson County Public Library. He said library users could receive a questionnaire when they check out books and bring it back when they return them.
– Cartwright said the board needed to consider the possibility of rewriting its by-laws.
“They’re a little dated,” he said. “They don’t reflect the way we’re doing business. There’s some wording in there that does not reflect the way we interact with the Fontana Regional Library and their board.”
Board members Ethan Staats and Sandra Burbank, along with Wallace, will serve on a sub-committee tasked with rewriting the guidelines. Staats agreed to be chairman.
– Selzer reported that the Friends had added an additional $20,750 to the new library fund for 2005-06. Currently, that fund stands at around $44,000.
Selzer also said the Friends have committed $12,000 to the current library for this fiscal year. For each dollar they spend on those facilities, Friends will give a dollar to the new library fund as well, which will add another $12,000, she said.
– Cartwright also gave a report on recent happenings at the library.
He said the facility’s new book drop was working well. The only problem he had encountered was that the books sometimes don’t slide all the way down, since the angle isn’t steep enough. Workers are looking into the problem, but until they fix it he is going to try putting some car wax on the slide.
Cartwright also said someone poured soda down the book drop, and that he hopes that doesn’t turn out to be a constant problem.
As for the roof, Cartwright said it held up well during the last thunderstorm. Commissioners have hired a contractor to evaluate the roof, which has leaked in the past, he said.
DVD rentals have brought in $3,328 during the past fiscal year. Cartwright said the library had spent $1,567 on new DVDs.
Library users are charged $1 to check out a DVD for one week. Wallace said Fontana officials decided to start charging for the service in 2002 during the state’s budget crisis as a way to bring in more revenue.
Cartwright also told board members that there had been some problems hooking up computers at the expanded library in Cashiers. When the information technology worker went in to network all of the computers, he said necessary cables were not present.
Brunette said Westmoreland had checked the problem and was going to get in contact with Metrostat Technologies to get some cable laid.
– The board’s next meeting will be Monday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Jackson County Public Library.
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