Skip to content
The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Community
  • Schools
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • Mill
  • Flora
  • Print Archive
  • About
Menu

Lack of consensus on library site

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Staff

By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
Following the rejection of a controversial proposed library site earlier this year, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Orange County Board of Commissioners revisited the idea of a southwestern branch of the Orange County Library in Carrboro at a joint meeting last Thursday.

Commissioners presented the aldermen with a revised list of site criteria for the library at the meeting, and discussion was opened so the two boards could talk about their concerns and hopes for the library.

“I think the meeting went well, and our board got to discuss items of concern in an open and frank conversation,” said Matt Efird, Carrboro’s interim town manager.

However, it was clear that within at least one of the boards ideas differed, and there was no clear consensus about the process, especially regarding location.

“There is no consensus on the board of aldermen about the library process at this point,” Efird said, “I think the meeting made it clear that there is still a lot of discussion to be had.”

While the aldermen spoke out in support of having the library located in downtown Carrboro, county commissioners said they want to make sure that wherever the library is built, it reaches the greatest number of people.

“I feel like we are all very concerned that we site a library in a location that will serve the most citizens with the most convenience,” Commissioner Earl McKee said.

A potential library site had previously been identified at 210 Hillsborough Road in downtown Carrboro, but county commissioners voted unanimously on Aug. 23 to terminate the purchase and sales agreement for the property.

Since then, talks regarding a library for the southwest quadrant of the county were put on hold until the commissioners revisited the site criteria at a work session earlier this month in anticipation of their joint meeting with Carrboro.

The new criteria stipulate that proposed library sites go through three phases of screening to ensure selection of the best possible site.

Carrboro board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell said she believes that in order to address multiple concerns discussed during the meeting and the necessary criteria presented by the library taskforce, the library should be in downtown Carrboro.

Haven-O’Donnell said a downtown library would be easily accessible by public transportation, would serve the largest percentage of the southwestern population and would help support local businesses situated near the library.

She cited the Orange County Main Library in downtown Hillsborough as an example the boards should be looking to.

“When people are going to a library downtown, they can cluster their trips and make them multi-use trips,” Haven-O’Donnell said.

“Even though there are multiple views on our board, we still have strong sentiments in support of something downtown for the southwest part of the county.”

The financial impact on the county and the town was also brought up as a concern. McKee said the financial impact of the library is probably one of the biggest concerns to county commission members because they want to be able to provide the necessary services without having to raise taxes.

Although no formal decision was made regarding where the library should be located, both boards left the meeting feeling they had accomplished their goal of discussing the issues face to face, rather than separately, as they had done in the past.

“We left the meeting with the idea of moving forward with sites as they presented themselves,” McKee said. “Both boards are continuing to work towards providing a library in the southwestern quadrant.”

Web Archive

© 2025 The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme