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The Carrboro Branch Library needs all our support

Posted on July 17, 2008 by Staff

By Mark Chilton and Dan Coleman

The normally quiet and perhaps underappreciated Carrboro Branch Library has been much in the news lately. The controversy was precipitated by a 35 percent cut-back Orange County made to the already minimal hours the Carrboro branch is open.

Fortunately, we have a vigilant Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library organization, which raised the alarm. On behalf of the board of aldermen, Mayor Chilton wrote to Commissioner Jacobs. In reply, we learned that the cut-back was the inadvertent result of the county’s across-the-board cut in temporary, part-time staff positions and that funds were being sought to restore library hours.

Through this controversy, questions have arisen as to the long-term plans for the Carrboro Branch Library and the role that our citizens and aldermen can play in ensuring their expedited realization.

In North Carolina, county library systems are the norm. There are 51 county libraries, 15 regional (multi-county libraries) and only nine municipal libraries (including Chapel Hill). These 75 libraries operate over 300 branch libraries across the state.

In October 2004, the county commissioners received a report on library services. It recommended a new central county library, now under development as part of the Gateway Center in Hillsborough, and a “southwest regional branch library combining the collections, staff, and services presently located at McDougle Middle School and at the Century Center Cybrary.” The latter recommendation was made in recognition of the fact that Carrboro is the largest town in the state lacking a free-standing library.

Since then, members of the board of aldermen, most recently Mayor Chilton and Alderman Randee Haven-O’Donnell, have continued to meet with the county commissioners on developing a plan for library needs. The commissioners have allocated $2.7 million in their future Capital Investment Plan for developing a library. Chilton and Haven-O’Donnell are advising them of sites appropriate for redevelopment and of new developments in the pipeline. A site has yet to be identified.

We applaud the commissioners for their commitment to library services and for recognizing, in the words of writer Ann Herbert, that “libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.”

Libraries across the country are increasingly cognizant of their role in helping provide resources on a wide range of topics including housing, food, financial literacy, parenting, health, aging, senior services and legal aid. A big part of that is providing the Internet access and assistance to help patrons access needed, up-to-date information. Orange County has long held a high standard in the provisioning of social services, and library services are increasingly part and parcel of that mission.

Most of the aldermen, with the exception of 20-year-veteran Jacquelyn Gist, are Johnny-come-latelies on the library issue as compared to the handful of highly engaged citizens whose involvement generally precedes our tenure in office. Our goal is to join them as leading advocates for the branch library. But all Orange County citizens are constituents of the county commissioners, and those who care about library services must make their voices heard. Contact the commissioners and let your concern be known.

If you haven’t done so, please join the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library (pick up a membership form at the library) and become active. A small group has shouldered the work for a long time and they need your help.

We in Carrboro must also make common cause with Chapel Hill. This spring, Mayor Foy asked the commissioners for help with the several hundred thousand dollar shortfall in county support to the Chapel Hill library. The best way to reduce this burden on Chapel Hill is to complete the free-standing southwest library in Carrboro. Thousands to the west of Chapel Hill will be less likely to drive to the Chapel Hill Public Library when they will be able to get comparable services closer to home.

The board of aldermen will continue to stay engaged in this issue. We urge you to do so as well. And, please, let us know your concerns or ideas.

Mark Chilton is the mayor of Carrboro. Dan Coleman is a member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen.

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