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Council seeks more information on library fees

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Staff

Carrboro board cool to the idea of contributing funds

Beth Mechum
Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL – With concerns about library funding still front-and-center, members of the Chapel Hill Town Council want a closer look at the various options for charging for the use of the Chapel Hill Public Library along with the possible consequences of such a decision.

Council members Laurin Easthom and Gene Pease petitioned the council for a review of the funding and fee options at Monday night’s council meeting at Town Hall.

The council has indicated its support for a proposed expansion of the Chapel Hill Public Library, but members worry about the consequences, including the long-term costs of additional personnel and maintenance. once the $16 million addition is completed.

Town Manager Roger Stancil has said that the town stands to get a good deal on financing if it opts to proceed with the project. Bonds for the construction were approved by Chapel Hill voters in 2003.

“We would like to petition the staff to research different funding scenarios for the operational costs of the Chapel Hill Public Library that would involve a fee for use for non-residents of Chapel Hill – i.e., library card fees – if the council elects to not select the current or proposed level of annual Orange County funding,” Easthom said.

The county contributes $250,000 annually to help cover library operating expenses, an amount that hasn’t changed since 1995. Library officials estimate that patrons from outside Chapel Hill account for about 40 percent of the library’s circulation. The county’s share of the funding is equal to about 11 percent of the library’s annual budget.

Should Chapel Hill start charging out-of-towners for use of the library, it could lose the county funding.

Easthom and Pease requested that the town staff research how other municipalities charge out-of-town card-holders. Both agreed the information would be useful in upcoming budget discussions, when the town council will decide whether it wants to move forward.

Stancil and Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt recently penned a letter to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen requesting Carrboro’s input on alternative funding that would “ensure free access to their constituents.”

So far, Carrboro officials have not responded positively to the idea.

In a letter from Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton to the other aldermen that has since gotten a lot of publicity, Chilton said, “The solution is for the County to run a single library system and for Chapel Hill to get out of the library business. And I don’t see how or why the seeming political impossibility of that solution is or ought to be my problem.”

Chilton said in an interview that Carrboro residents have told him that if Chapel Hill decides to levy a fee, they hope the county commissioners will use some of that $250,000 they currently send to Chapel Hill to to beef up Carrboro’s libraries. Both the Carrboro Branch Library at McDougle Schools and the Carrboro Cybrary are part of the county-run system.

At the Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday night, Joal Hall Broun said she is writing a letter in response to Kleinschmidt and Stancil, and would welcome any input from the other board members.

“My goal is to have a very succinct, neutral, not stressful response, but clear about where we’re going,” she said.

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