About one hundred and fifty people attended this past Wednesday’s Library meeting at Western Albemarle High School. Supervisor David Wyant opened the meeting with the sweeping statement that “The library today involves the internet.”
The lead architect’s presentation was highlighted in part by her seeming un-awareness of the political environment in Crozet. A few of the notable laugh lines were:
– a slide noting how a great library can jump-start development
– her response to a question regarding when “new” Main Street will be built
– her noting that all the sidewalks, benches, light posts, etc. Crozetians have been promised for years would be part of the implementation plan
– her noting that there have been a few studies regarding the building of a new Crozet library. (since 1987!!!) No one can say that Albemarle has not done their due diligence.
In all seriousness, the meeting was informative, enlightening and about 45 minutes behind schedule. I look forward to the follow up meetings.
These are the major observations and questions I left with –
– Regarding the Downtown Location (Site Option #3 -pdf) – what is the historic value of the property? At what point will this issue be put to bed and not be a component of the equation that could derail the entire project?
– There were surprisingly few young people (25-35 years old) in attendance. One would think that more would be interested as they will benefit greatly from a state of the art library, particularly because of the library’s intended focus on children and teens.– A general (library) rule of thumb is that when a library reaches a checkout rate of 25 books per square foot, it is time to start looking for a new home. Crozet’s checkout rate is 64 books per square foot. Clearly, the time is right for a new library.
– Nothing is more enlightening than a Power Point presentation.
– The architects (Grimm and Parker) are planning an additional half-dozen or so public meetings.
– Will the library offer free wireless to their surroundings?
– I was impressed and happy to see and hear that the architects intend to build with green, sustainable concepts.
– An idea for future meetings – distribute (and market) the pertinent materials before-hand.
My vote: The Downtown Location.
Albemarle’s Crozet Library Page.
NB:
– as always, County Staff showed their tireless dedication. We owe them some real thanks.
– one of the more challenging aspects of so-called “citizen journalism” is the whole “not getting paid to do this part.” 🙂
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