Letters to the editor: 06/12/03

Arguments against library move don't hold water

To the Editor:

Accessibility. Of all the criticisms leveled at the proposal for a new library facility, perhaps the one heard most often is that accessibility will be compromised. The argument goes that both physically and emotionally the proposed facility will be less accessible or even worse, inaccessible.

The problem with that argument is that it relies more on distortion and misrepresentation than on fact. The proposed new facility will not, as some have argued, be buried deep within the Southwestern Community College campus. In fact, the current proposal places the new facility directly on N.C. 116. Primary access would be gained not through the campus but through an entrance directly fronting a primary state route.

The proposed facility would be accessible from at least 200 parking spaces. It would also be accessible by proposed sidewalk, greenway and biking trails. The proposed facility would be within a half-mile of Smoky Mountain High School and only a slightly greater distance from Fairview Elementary School. The proposed facility would be within walking distance of the proposed Department of Social Services and Department of Aging facilities.

Perhaps most importantly the location of the new facility would be closer to the population center of the county and would for most residents require less travel or, at the very least, less travel through lights and heavy traffic areas. The proposed facility would be less than a quarter-mile from a grocery store. It would be about that distance from the most heavily-used banking facility in the county and it would be closer to the most heavily used shopping facilities in the county.

Perhaps the most emotional criticism is that the proposed facility would be emotionally inaccessible, that there is something inherently incompatible with its proximity to a college. That argument might hold some truth if the college was a large research university or even a modest regional institution like Western Carolina University, but the fact is that SCC is a junior college, a community college. The people who attend SCC are like you and me or our children or grandchildren. A community college attracts a more diverse population that is more representative of the community than a university populationÝmight be.

I acknowledge that some of the fears expressed on behalf of both the very young and the elderly are perceived as real, but I wonder if they are entirely justified. Are we that afraid of the possibility of associating with a broad cross section of the community? Should we build a facility for each demographic? What does it say about us as a society when we claim fear of our own children and grandchildren and neighbors to the point that we would refuse to attend a facility that they might also attend? Some of the arguments expressed in these pages begin to sound a bit elitist. How does that promote accessibility?

I do not deny that those who oppose the shared facility have some valid arguments. The tri-library service proposal put forth by Commissioner Stacy Buchanan goes a long toward addressing those concerns. However, the arguments for rejecting the current proposal in favor of a single facility downtown simply do not stand up to close inspection.

Every piece of property that has been proposed in the downtown area has a serious flaw. Either it is not currently available or it is in a floodplain or it leaves insufficient space for parking or growth or the expense is unacceptable.

Funding for a single downtown facility does not currently exist either. Existing capital commitments for the next five years preclude the $5 million or more commitment needed to fund a single downtown facility. The fact is that the current proposal works precisely because it accesses existing funds and commitments and uses them in an efficient manner.

Finally, the arguments that the proposed facility would be inaccessible or reflects poor municipal planning is at best weak. The accessibility of the proposed facility is by any measure clearly better than one located downtown for a majority of the residents of the county. Furthermore, the location of the proposed facility reflects acknowledgment of existing growth and traffic patterns.

Perhaps the town of Sylva ought to recognize the opportunity presented by this proposal. A new library facility located near the existing facility at SCC and the proposed county facilities and infrastructure along with existing commercial facilities in the area could serve as an anchor for the southern end of town. Appropriate planning and study could work to attract development as infill along the existing corridor into downtown and could work to improve appearance and traffic patterns to create an attractive entry way into our downtown community.

The current proposal, particularly the most recent tri-library service proposal, recognizes the need for a modern, accessible library facility. It offers the opportunity to provide such a facility in a reasonable time frame in a fiscally responsible manner. The proposal offers access and participation to a broad cross section of the community and allows for the opportunity for those with legitimate concerns to address those concerns.

Mark Jamison

Cullowhee

Library plans have always been public

To the Editor:

As a member of the Joint Library Task Force, I have watched with growing dismay the inaccurate statements and personal attacks being presented as facts by some members of the public. I would like, on a personal level, not as a representative of the library, to speak to some of the issues.

I am not clear as to what the real motivation is for some of the statements I've read and heard. The majority of the letter writers and speakers do not even have current library cards, so their concern doesn't seem to be about using the library. It almost seems that a hidden agenda has been discussed at a number of secret meetings between various members of the KOLD group, administrators from the town of Sylva and an out-of-state librarian.

But no one from either Fontana Regional Library or the Southwestern Community College Learning Center has been invited to attend these meetings or talk with this group or answer their questions and concerns. I don't know if their actual membership list has ever been made public.

What I do know is that the proposal for a joint library has never been a secret, as many have claimed. It has been discussed in many public forums during the last four years. In February 1999 it was presented to the Jackson County Library Board, including member and Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver. That same year it was presented to the Jackson County commissioners in a public hearing. In September 1999 it was presented to the Jackson County Library Task Force in a public meeting. It was presented at a Rotary Club meeting, and it was presented to the Friends of the Library.

I am concerned about the repeated statement that no other site in the downtown area was considered. This is just not the case. As far back as 1983 Fontana Regional Library and the Jackson County commissioners were considering how to expand the Jackson County Public Library. Recognizing that it could not grow in its current location, Fontana and the county purchased the property next door for expansion.

But when the time came to begin that expansion, the library was forced to give away the Hooper House, without being compensated; the Friends of the Library were thrown out on the street to find another store; and the library lost its annex, leaving it landlocked and with even less space than before.

At that time the Jackson County Library Task Force was formed to investigate other potential sites for the library. A number of sites were looked at, but none were suitable to house a building of the size needed. That task force then reconsidered the joint library proposal and recommended that it be studied further, as the most likely solution.

After two years of looking at alternatives and finding none, the library and SCC began serious consideration of the joint library. Neither Fontana nor SCC wanted to recommend to the commissioners and the public that we go forward with the proposal, only to find out later that we could not resolve the obstacles and it really couldn't be done, so we formed a staff task force to determine if it was technically feasible to do it.

At the beginning we were all skeptical, but as we discussed it and talked to other library systems that had successfully done it, we came to believe that it was possible, and we published a report saying so. That was all the staff task force did. We were never told Ïto make it work, as some people have claimed. We were told to see if it could work. That is a big difference. The plan was always to bring it to the public forum if we found that it was a workable proposal.

It has also been stated that Fontana Director Gail Findlay announced that the Fontana headquarters will be moving into the joint library. This is not the truth, either. SCC has offered to host the headquarters, since it will be a large facility and Jackson County is the center of Fontana's service area.

But the headquarters has been in Swain County since 1944, and before any decision is made to move it, a lot of people need to approve. In May, Gail Findlay went to a public hearing of the Swain County commissioners and told them of SCC's offer and asked for their input. A final decision has not been made by anyone yet, and there are no secret backroom deals involved here, as some have claimed.

I am also concerned that the students of SCC are being painted as child molesters and rapists. The average student at SCC is a member of this community. They are kids in your church, your babysitters, the kids checking out your groceries at Ingles and Wal-Mart, your sons and daughters who just graduated from high school. And they are adults trying to improve their skills, seniors taking art classes and Yoga, single mothers preparing for a better job, your friends and neighbors. Why are they being insulted and vilified in these letters?

The librarians at SCC all have educational backgrounds and welcome children. They are as excited as we are about the plans for the new children's story area and activities center. And staff from the current library will be transferring to the new one so the same friendly faces you know downtown will be there to greet you in the new facility. It's very insulting to the staff of both libraries to suggest that they will put children in jeopardy.

The new facility will be more than three times larger than either the current downtown library or the SCC learning resource center. There will be plenty of room for everyone - public and students - to have their own area and peacefully coexist.

And what's wrong with peaceful coexistence? If the lion can lie down with the lamb, why can't a student read a book in the same building as a child or senior? Oh, and yes, there will be separate bathrooms for the staff. I'm not sure why some members of the KOLD group think that's a bad idea.

As for the downtown library, Fontana would love to have both the new facility and the downtown library. But it takes money to run a library. The KOLD group has said that almost all county seats have a library. True. But what they haven't said is that local funds help support those libraries: towns, Friends of the Library groups, private donations.

For instance, Robert Baliot's Friends of the Library raised $500,000 for his library expansion, and his town contributes $450,000 a year to run it.

Jackson County commissioners have proposed support for three libraries in the county, and their offer is amazingly generous. But their plan requires that the local communities step up and share the costs. The town of Sylva has just announced that they don't intend to give any money to the library this coming year. Obviously the library is not a priority for them. But if KOLD really wants to keep the library downtown, they need to support it financially, not just with letter writing and hurtful words.

The people of Jackson County, of all Jackson County, deserve the best library service we can provide. The library and the people who use it and love it should not be held hostage to special interest groups who would settle for a poor library in order to further their own purposes, whatever they may be.

Thank you for you attention and you concern.

Deb Lawley

Fontana Regional Library

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