AGENDA #8

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Library Building Program:  Consultant Presentation

 

DATE:             January 27, 2003

 

 

The attached “Recommended Library Building Program” (Attachment 1) will be presented this evening by Robert H. Rohlf of Professional Library Consultants, P.A.  The program identifies space and equipment needs through 2025, based on services identified in the Library’s Five Year Services Plan (Attachment 2).

 

BACKGROUND

 

In 1997, the Council appointed a Library Needs Assessment Task Force to identify Chapel Hill’s long-term library needs.  In 1999, the Task Force report stated that additional space and staff would be needed in the future (Attachment 3).  It also recommended hiring a consultant to review the Task Force’s findings.

 

In 1999, the Library Board and staff began working with consultants to complete the Public Library Association’s Planning Process to assess local library services.  In February 2002, the Council reviewed and adopted the resulting Five Year Services Plan 2001-2006 and Long Term Facilities Needs Through 2020.   

 

The Five Year Plan recommended that Chapel Hill provide 70,000-76,000 square feet of public library facility space by 2020, based on three different population projections:  the population of Chapel Hill; the population of south Orange County without Chapel Hill; and a combined population for the two. The current library facility is 27,315 square feet. 

 

In February 2002, the Council authorized the Manager to hire a consultant to develop a library building program, based on services and facilities needs identified in the Five Year Services Plan.

 

The purpose of a building program is to present proposals to establish and define specific areas required in the library, as well as capacities for readers, collections and staff.  Space assignments and collection size are proposed based on population, use, and professional space guidelines for various library services. 

 

The building program consultant recommends a facility of 75,531 square feet to serve Chapel Hill through 2025.  Recommendations are based on:

• Services identified in the Library’s Five Year Plan and Long Term Facilities Needs Through 2020. 
• Population projections through 2025 (93,103).
• Current use patterns.
• North Carolina Public Library Directors Guidelines (Attachment 4).

 

Building program space formulas are usually based on total population of library’s formal service area. However, when a library is consistently used by individuals outside the formal service area, the consultant may determine to use all or a portion of users in population projections to determine future space needs.     

 

The consultant’s 2025 population projection of 93,103 that is used to determine facility size is based on Chapel Hill’s total population projection (73,355), and 32% of Orange County’s population projection for Bingham Township and Chapel Hill Township (61,715 x 32% = 19,748) (73,355 + 19,748 = 93,103).  This is because approximately 32% of the Library’s lending activity has traditionally been to south Orange County residents who reside outside Chapel Hill. 

 

On January 20, 2003, the Library Board recommended that the Town Council adopt the proposed Library Building Program.  They further recommended that future expansion of the Library be included in the Town’s 2003-2018 Capital Improvements Program. 

 

NEXT STEPS

 

We recommend that the Library’s Building Program be received and referred to the Manager and the Library Board of Trustees for consideration and recommendations for action. 

 

Attachments

 

1:  Recommended Library Building Program (p. 3).

2:  Five Year Services Plan 2001-2006 and Long Term Facilities Needs Through 2020 (p. 60).

3:  Library Needs Assessment Task Force Report, 1999 (p. 98).

4:  North Carolina Public Library Directors Guidelines (p. 120).