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Library weighing $230M building plan

The proposal would require voter approval of a bond issue.

Librarian Helen Patzer leads a craft project at Dayton Metro Library's Northtown-Shiloh Branch. Part of the proposed makeover includes merging small libraries, such as this one.

Teesha McClam/Staff photo Librarian Helen Patzer leads a craft project at Dayton Metro Library's Northtown-Shiloh Branch. Part of the proposed makeover includes merging small libraries, such as this one.

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JIM NOELKER/Staff photo The Dayton Metro Library is exploring a major building plan that would construct a new downtown library.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 3:32 PM Monday, July 25, 2011

The Dayton Metro Library is exploring a major building plan involving construction of a new downtown library, expanding suburban branches, and consolidating several urban branches into a single modern space.

The proposal would require voter approval of a bond issue, could take years to complete and cost upwards of $230 million for construction, equipment and furnishings.

It’s easily the biggest makeover in the countywide system since the downtown library was built in 1962. The plan calls for closing four Dayton branches, reducing the overall number from 20 to 16.

“What we want to do is talk to our community and get them to buy into the idea that libraries of the future are different from the libraries of today,” said William Gillispie, vice president of the Dayton Metro Library Board.

“We understand you don’t just jump out there and do something without community involvement.”

Volumes, systemwide, would be cut by 40 percent, with more space created for computers and meeting rooms.

“We have few locations, where you walk in and it’s something special,” said Tim Kambitsch, executive director of the library system. “The buildings are not functional for modern library services.”

Library officials say the facilities are outdated, and they are unable to meet the changing needs of a wired population that reads books online and does most of its research using computers. Before putting a bond issue on the ballot, they plan to conduct polling and study other library systems. They’d like to see the same level of energy that went into building a downtown baseball stadium, drive an effort to modernize public libraries.

The library began re-evaluating facilities about eight years ago, based on patron feedback during the 2004 levy campaign. Before advancing a building plan, the library board updated its strategic plan. That plan, with input from about 400 people, identified outdated facilities as major obstacles to improving library services.

In early 2008, the library staff began working with consultants to lay the groundwork for a construction plan. They studied communities, the conditions of branches and documented levels of library usage.

The recommendation: a major overhaul and reconfiguration of branches and enhancements to the Main Library. The price tag for the branch program, $120 million and a new downtown library, $110 million.

The library has just $11 million in levy revenue for construction of one state-of-the-art branch that combines several urban facilities.

“We were plugging along with our plan in October of 2008, then the world changed,” Kambitsch said.

Library officials recognized economic conditions weren’t favorable to launch a major facilities update, so the plan was suspended.

“We knew we would have to come back to it at some point,” Kambitsch said.

When the main downtown library opened nearly 50 years ago, its collection was primarily limited to books and magazines. There were no computers. Innovative services included microfilm readers and typing rooms.

Today, the size of the library’s collection has nearly doubled and includes printed, recorded and electronic materials. More than 60 percent of those materials are stored in the basement, where patrons can’t browse through them. Despite its limitations, the main library attracts just under half a million visitors a year.

“Our reading rooms have turned into waiting rooms for computer users,” Kambitsch said. “The number-one complaint about our buildings is that there are no quiet spaces to read.”

Another cornerstone for development?

The library board hasn’t commissioned an architect for a new downtown library, but there is a vision for the facility as a destination place that would serve as a cornerstone for other downtown development. Modernized libraries have added value in other cities as a major downtown attraction, said Sandy Gudorf, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership.

“I think it could be a really positive thing, if we could find a way to get this done,” Gudorf said. “It’s all going to depend on the resources and how voters feel about supporting it.”

The size of the Main Library would grow from 130,143 square feet to 201,041, and include a 300-seat auditorium and a free, 200-car parking garage for library visitors.

Paula Wehner, 56, and her husband, Paul, live in Kettering, but they visit multiple branches. Paul’s a fan of the antique car manuals at the Main Library. Computers at the Belmont branch free up in the evening, so it’s a destination for the couple if they want to get online. Wehner said she’d likely support a bond issue for libraries, but “I’d like to see the levy amount along with an explanation of what they plan to do.”

Nearly every seat in the Northtown-Shiloh Branch in Harrison Twp. was filled on Thursday. Kids worked on crafts. An adult book club met around a table tucked in the book stacks. The wait for a computer was nearly half an hour.

Laura Wood, 56, of Harrison Twp. read the Wall Street Journal while waiting her turn to get online.

“This is my favorite place to come,” Wood said. “I like the personalized, smaller branches.”

Several small branches, including Northtown, would be merged into a new building creating more computer space, a larger book collection and a meeting room. Many scenarios could happen, such as combining the Burkhardt, Belmont and East branches; or Madden Hills and Westwood. Another possibility is merging the Dayton View, Fort McKinley and Northtown branches.

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Dayton Metro Main Library facts

The Dayton Metro Library is exploring a major building plan. The proposal would require voter approval of a bond issue, could take years to complete and cost upwards of $230 million for construction, equipment and furnishings.

	Proposed	Current
Population served	458,712	458,712
Gross square footage	201,041	130,143
Volumes	565,270	471,521
Volumes in closed stacks	84,791	233,996
General purpose seating	400	190
Public access computers	200	40
Meeting rooms	7	2
Seats in largest meeting room or auditorium	300	105
Off-street visitor parking spaces	200	2