<< Back 6/18/03 Fate of public library deserves public dialogue By Jason Kimenker First, I would like to suggest that a survey be mailed to all Jackson County Public Library card holders asking for their opinions about what they want in a new public library and where they want it. As a Friend of the library, I will offer to donate a portion of the postage to ease the public library of the financial burden. If you use our public library but do not already have a free library card, go get one today. Everyone in our community should be given the opportunity to express their views, either by a referendum vote or a survey. Secondly, if almost 3,000 local signatures were gathered, dozens of letters to the editor written, and a groundswell of public sentiment expressed, it would seem that the people’s desires would be seriously listened to. Before any project with unforeseen long-term consequences is acted on, the public must be able to view all of the potential alternatives. More than 2,700 members of our community have asked that the main branch of our county’s public library remain in the county seat in downtown Sylva. They have asked that the library not be combined as a joint-use facility at the academic campus of Southwestern Community College four miles away in Webster. It is important that we all ask why so many people are so passionate about keeping the library downtown. Perhaps there is some validity to what they have to say. Maybe this is why the original task force of community members made the same recommendations three years ago. I find it odd that there has been no mention of the original community-based library task-force recommendations (to build a new public library in the downtown area). For some reason the original recommendations were shelved and a new task force was created with the purpose of pursuing a joint-use facility at SCC (according to their documents). According to original task force members, they did look at the SCC site and specifically recommended the library not be located there. It has been suggested that state bond money (which is future taxpayer dollars, not free money) be used to pay for the unproven joint-use library venture at SCC. There has been very little discussion of private sources of funding, specifically foundation grants for preserving and protecting public libraries. These same grants and private sources of funding are not available if our library becomes a joint-use facility. I believe the ideal location for a new public library (and one studied by the original task force) would be downtown on Jim Gray’s large, flat lot next to the municipal parking lot and sited near the future bridge to the downtown park. Local architect Odell Thompson came up with a creative and resourceful solution for those who argue that the Gray site would not work because it is in a floodplain — build the library over a ground floor plaza and parking level to raise the structure above the floodplain. The historic county courthouse was another site also suggested by the original task force. It is worth looking at Odell’s plans and several other potential sites, plus the many sources of private funding further before proceeding with this or any other plan involving public money, taxpayer dollars and the future of our community. We would not remove the SCC library and combine it with WCU, so why would we do essentially the same thing by replacing our public library onto an academic campus? This would leave an obvious gap in our county seat — paid for with your children’s and grandchildren’s tax dollars. Be passionate about your public library. Get a library card, meet your fellow citizens and get involved in this discussion. Together as a community we will create a new, modern public library downtown with as much private funding as we can raise together. We can keep the financial burden off the taxpayers and our county by utilizing resources that have been offered to us by creative, passionate and dedicated individuals from within our own community. I will send anyone who requests one a list of available grants and private funding sources for building a new public library downtown. Copies of the original task force documents recommending a downtown location are also available. Grant applications are available immediately, but we must work as a co-operative community if that is what we decide, together. (Jason is a card-carrying patron of the Jackson County Public Library and is the chairperson for the Sustainable Business Community of Jackson County. He and his wife are proprietors of Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro in Sylva. He welcomes your comments to jason@wnc.us)