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Orange County Library Long-Range Facility Planning <br />feet would be needed. Orange County should continue to investigate co-location of the <br />branch in the new Efland-Cheeks Middle School in the short term if public library user <br />service needs and space requirements can be met with that arrangement. <br />Cheeks Township is expected to experience considerable growth over the next 20 years, <br />particularly along I-85 in the areas of Efland and Mebane. The area is home to commuters <br />who work as far away as Greensboro in one direction and the Research Triangle Park in the <br />other. The County has targeted this area for economic and industrial development. With the <br />opening of new companies, residential population may exceed projections. <br />The 2001 Library Task Force identified the area as a site for a library branch. 50% of the <br />population of the Township had Orange County Library cards at that time and there was <br />considerable vocal support for a local branch. The Task Force then recommended that <br />services be provided in a library co-located with the Efland Cheeks Elementary School. This <br />facility turned out not to be conducive to a co-located arrangement. A new Efland Cheeks <br />Middle School is now planned for the area with the possibility that a joint use facility be <br />considered during the design phase. This could provide an opportunity to address the service <br />needs of the township sooner rather than later; however, as with the Carrboro situation, it <br />may provide only an interim solution depending on the planning criteria used. Lessons <br />learned from the co-location experience at McDougle Middle School should be applied so <br />that public access is not limited. The computer system should ensure that public library <br />patrons are part of the larger public library system and have easy access to all resources in <br />the system. <br />As with the other facilities described above, the consultant developed a set of basic <br />requirements for this branch using a proposed design population based on 2025 projections <br />and potential functions to be accommodated in the facility. Appendix A itemizes these <br />requirements and functions. Appendix G calculates the proposed size of the facility based on <br />the set of requirements and functions. <br />? That the population growth in the Cedar Grove Township be monitored and plans be <br />considered to expand the library facility in the Orange County Services Center as <br />indicated. <br />The Cedar Grove Library opened in 2004 in a facility housing other Orange County services. <br />It serves a very rural area of the northern county. The facility is adequate to address current <br />demand; however, the population over a 20-year period is projected to grow to a level that <br />could warrant service expansion during this period. <br />? That rural community nodes be evaluated for the establishment of cbraries to provide <br />access to more distant library resources; or, alternatively, reestablish bookmobile <br />service with Internet access to county areas not served by an accessible library facility. <br />The 1998 Cmidelines for North Carolina Public Libraries recommend that 90% of the <br />service population be no more than a 15-minute drive from a library and that those who lack <br />regular transportation to a library be served by a bookmobile or other outreach service. The <br />as <br />18