Vicky Dickson
A public library is one place that belongs to everyone, a place where the whole town meets and can linger as long as it likes. Just for that reason, I hope libraries will always be around.
Like many people, I also hope the Chapel Hill Public Library stays where it is – in a public building, with architecture that’s not driven by sales and marketing. The wooded park setting of the library is vastly superior to the acres of asphalt around University Mall. And why take on the risk that would be involved in sharing space in a privately owned building, which might at some point be sold or repurposed by its out-of-town owners?
But the fiscal constraints on the town of Chapel Hill and its residents are real, and probably ongoing. Since it’s incumbent on the Chapel Hill Town Council to spend tax dollars carefully, one way of doing so might involve taking another look at the Library Master Plan (adopted in concept in 2003) through a 2011 lens.
A major facet of that plan, an aspect that presumably drives most of the proposed expansion, is the goal to increase the materials (books and other items) per capita held by the library from 2.8 to four. Since the library held 145, 200 items in 2003, that would mean increasing the number of items held (factoring in a projected population increase) to 320,000.
But given the recent explosive growth in e-books and their readers, isn’t it conceivable that much of the increase in inventory could be digital? E-books and e-magazines don’t require any physical storage space or staff to check out and re-shelve them. And since checkout would be done online, there would be no need to increase the size of the parking lot or the building.
While I’m a person who really likes cracking open a brand-new hardback and loves the way a shelf of books warms up a room, I do think the convenience and the environmental savings of e-books make them compelling. And apparently I’m not alone, with Barnes & Noble reporting sales of a million e-books on Christmas Day 2010 and Amazon announcing that e-books sales began outstripping sales of print bestsellers last October.
So I hope the town council is taking a hard look at the building plan that was approved in 2007, before the launch of Kindles, Nooks and iPads. If we don’t, at this point, factor in the likelihood that library patrons will increasingly opt for digital materials checked out via the website, we might well find ourselves burdened with the fiscal and environmental costs of a building and parking lot that are significantly bigger than they need to be.
The town council should not let its goal of finishing library renovations by 2012 get in the way of a clear-eyed re-evaluation of the plan and a thorough consideration of how libraries are likely to function in the digital future. If future libraries might best serve, for instance, as places for the public to learn about books and reading, the renovations to be embarked on should reflect that priority. Hardcover books will probably not disappear, but they may eventually be retained mostly for historical reasons, so plans should address that possibility. And address the ever-present need for a public place for the whole town to meet, and linger.
Vicky Dickson writes about literary matters for The Carrboro Citizen.