Orange County NC Website
3. Construct a new central library in the Hillsborough vicinity. The recommended size, <br />according to the consultant, is 65,000 square feet. The current facility is only 12,750 <br />square feet. The task force recommends a size of between 30,000-65,000 square feet. <br />If a library were built within the Waterstone development, the task force would <br />recommend keeping a library presence in central Hillsborough. There are many <br />advantages to co-locating a library with the satellite campus of Durham Tech in the <br />Waterstone development. <br />4. Establish a southwest regional branch in Carrboro. They endorse the <br />recommendations from the Carrboro Library Workgroup. They would like a <br />freestanding library building that would combine the collection, staff, and resources in <br />the Carrboro branch library in McDougle and the new Cybrary. The 20-year population <br />projection would call for a facility of 25,000 square feet. <br />5. Establish an Orange County Heritage Center for historical and archival material. There <br />is about $120,000 in endowment funds set aside for this purpose. <br />6. Recognize Chapel Hill Public Library as a significant partner in providing County library <br />services and as the primary provider in southeastern Orange County. This would mean <br />maintaining the current County funding level of $250,000 and considering expanding <br />this amount. <br />7. Establish a branch library centered on Cheeks Township to serve the central west area. <br />This is on the I-85 corridor near Efland and Mebane. There is a possible co-location <br />with the new middle school #3. <br />8. Monitor the Cedar Grove branch library and consider possible future expansion. <br />9. Evaluate the rural community for library access, possibly through establishing cybraries <br />or small branch libraries. The state guidelines say that 90% of the service population <br />should be no more than a 15-minute drive from a library. There are areas in the County <br />that are farther than that. <br />PUBLIC COMMENT: <br />Amy Efland served on the Library Services Task Force as a representative from the <br />Board of Trustees. She supports the recommendations of the task force as presented. She <br />said that the central library has served the community well, but the task force agrees that the <br />citizens served deserve more than a conference room with a maximum capacity of 20 people, <br />one bathroom for the patrons, and half of the library's audio collections stored on the floor. <br />They are recommending enhancement of library services to provide a solid foundation for long <br />learning in the County that is continually growing. <br />Lisa Stuckey served on the Carrboro Library Task Force as well as the Orange County <br />Library Task Force. She was the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board liaison. She <br />supports the report. She thinks that the middle college program at Durham Tech would be a <br />wonderful thing. She said that the committee as a whole was concerned about moving the <br />library out of downtown Hillsborough. They saw that a way to resolve this dilemma was to <br />have a small library presence within downtown Hillsborough attached to the Orange County <br />Heritage Center. She said that she is a constant user of the library and she is grateful that the <br />County is looking into this. <br />Jeff Schmidt complimented Evelyn Daniel for a job well done. He said that it is all <br />about the quality of life in Orange County. He said that the Board of County Commissioners <br />and their predecessors have done a lot of wonderful things to bring Orange County to the <br />forefront and to provide a quality of life. He thinks this is a fair and balanced report. He thinks <br />