Main library to begin renovation planning study, address stay-or-go question

Speaking of libraries, this Tuesday the institution will hold a public meeting at the main library downtown to solicit public input on the future of the signature downtown branch. The meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7:00pm on Tuesday, July 29.

An aging late 1970s structure, the library facility is in desperate need of renovation, from repair to its mechanical systems to a reassessment of its physical footprint and services. At the same time, the Library's stood out as a classic example of inaccessible architecture, given its aloofness to downtown, its rather useless west-side lawn, and the facility's site itself, hemmed in by thoroughfares on three sides.

Renovations to the Library are slated to become part of a County bond issue in 2009; the department has contracted with SmithGroup for preliminary architectural planning through the public visioning process (including Tuesday night's meeting.)

As the Library has geared up for its renovation project over the last couple of years, a consistent question has been whether the facility should remain at its Downtown Loop location. It's a question that's certainly been asked by downtown developers, any number of whom would seem to be eager to add a credit-worthy tenant chewing up lots of square footage and drawing traffic to their complex.

The Library's board of trustees tackled the question of whether the main branch should stay on its current site or move back in their May meeting, uncovering in the process that at least three sites have been discussed for a library move:

• The Woolworth site downtown where Greenfire has proposed a large tower, across from the SunTrust/Hill building, with the Library proposed to occupy the first two floors;
• The Elkins/Johnson Chrysler site next door to American Tobacco and the future courthouse, where Scientific Properties is itself proposing a high-rise development;
• "Space near the future transit station," which we can imagine must be the portion of the old Heart of Durham hotel site that's not in use for the new multimodal transportation center. (The City put out to bid part of this parcel, on Willard St. next to American Tobacco.)

According to the May board meeting minutes, the trustees examined some advantages to the possibility of a move, including the ability to make a statement about Durham's commitment to education and the fact that the current location is not really central to or accessible from other points downtown.

Chris Brasier, the principal representing SmithGroup, noted that the point of the community forums they'd be holding in the coming months was to understand what the public wants to see in a main library -- and then to evaluate how much it would cost to renovate today's facility to meet those needs. One presumes that the options for moving to a new site would then be compared in terms of feasibility and cost-benefit relative to on-site work.

Still, the trustees appear to have discussed far more drawbacks to a move than advantages.

The discussion noted the Library's contiguous siting to social services and the health department, calling the current site "prime" and "convenient." Trustees also noted the challenge of the wasted green space along Roxboro, and suggested that moving the exterior of the building westward towards Roxboro St. would increase street-level prominence and provide opportunities for expansion.

Oddly, the comments as recorded in the meeting minutes also seem to highlight twin axes of yesterday's thinking about downtown: that downtown is somehow dangerous, and that a library needs a sea o' suburban parking adjacent to it to be successful:

• "Not central, but on the outskirts. Some people don’t come to the Main Library because they are afraid. None of the other sites solve that problem. If the building could be turned into a site that would train the homeless."
• "Parking at the Woolworth’s location would be terrible."
• "Do not want to park in a deck where people would have to cross the streets with young children. Also, parking decks are unsafe."
• "Concern about moving further into downtown; parking would be worse, and there would be more congestion."

...all of which is interesting statement on downtown by an institution that's supposedly part of it. (I'd invite some of the trustees to meet me downtown at Tyler's for lunch, but heaven forbid they might need to park in the American Tobacco garage -- they might get run over by a security guard on a Segway, or be unable to find parking in one of the 2,000 spaces.)

Needling aside, the parking concern has some legs to the extent that school groups in buses use the site -- or might use the site more if a Durham history museum co-located with the Library's renovations.

Still, here at BCR we have to wonder: how many of the perceived safety issues touched on by the trustees about today's library location happen because of its isolated, car-centric design?

The main library is located adjacent to an impoverished side of town and near social services, yes, and those are both positive things. That said, the library is on an island surrounded by busy streets (Roxboro/Loop, Holloway, Liberty) that do nothing to draw street-level activity today. The main useable entrance to the library, adjacent to parking, is sunken down on a grade, limiting visibility from parts of the parking lot or Liberty St.

And given the natural draw of a cool, shady place like that for the struggling in society, many of whom hang out around the entrance during the day, it seems like many of the challenges the Library perceives downtown to have lie rooted in the institution's own thinking (or lack thereof) about urban design three decades ago.

Interestingly, Greenfire met with the Library's director and at least one trustee after the May meeting to continue an "information sharing" about their downtown projects, and to make sure the Library hadn't abandoned any consideration of a move. At this point, it appears any final decision will be made after the feasibility study determines what the cost would be of meeting library patrons' needs.

Somehow, I suspect the real cost of renovating the current site probably needs to include fixing the downtown loop and reconnecting the island of books to the wealth of activity in Durham's revitalizing city center. But I doubt that's in the cards.

Comments

[Natalie]

For all the talk of people not using the library because it is not safe the parking lot sure is full most days and I've never been in the library when all of the computers were not being utilized, multiple patrons in all sections , and a line to check out my books or videos.

The library is a WONDERFUL asset in our neighborhood and hope that the trustees would be farsighted enough to see the changes that are occurring on the East Side (like... say... Golden Belt) and understand how they can play an important positive role in them.

[RaleighRob]

One of the major things that the Durham County Library System has that is better than Wake County's is the fact that you still have a large, main Downtown central library. I hope Durham never changes that.
Trust us Raleigh folks...it was a BAD decision on our library system's part to not have one! Instead, we get tons of little branches all over the place...you have to hop from one to the other to find the book you want most of the time.

[Visconti]

It is true that the Main library is isolated, and that most people go there by car. Roxboro Road is very wide right at that point and merges with the loop, which makes it very difficult and dangerous to cross from the western part of downtown.

My wife uses the Main library frequently and she sometimes feels uncomfortable because of the large number of homeless people hanging out by the doors, smoking outside, and occasionally sleeping and snoring inside. We need to come up with better ways to help the homeless. I wonder why the shelters have to kick out the people during the day. The homeless have nowhere to go and they end up in the library or in the lobbies of some office buildings, making people (specially women) uncomfortable. Maybe the shelters could have a lounge room where people who don't want to go out can stay while the shelter staff cleans the dorms.

[Elizabeth T.]

I worked in my hometown's public library in high school and think that the homeless will always find the library, regardless of where it's located. Libraries are nice places to hang out--they're climate controlled, quiet, clean, and peaceful. Plus there's lots to read there. I don't think that moving the Main Branch will ensure that fewer homeless people congregate there.

Convenient parking is vital to having a lot of foot traffic, in my opinion. Try going to the library with two (or more) small children and checking out 30+ picture books. Now imagine coming out of the library carrying an enormous stack of books (or lugging a very heavy bag or two of books) and trying to cross a busy street with squirming children whose hands must be held. No convenient parking means that folks with small kids will go to the branches and stay away from the main branch altogether.

[Jonathan Jones]

Many of the perceived problems with the central library could be solved, in my opinion, with a better building on the same site. That building is so small for a central library in a community this size. Also its layout is not particularly good, and I believe that contributes to some of the perception problems.

I moved here from High Point -- a city less than half Durham's size -- which has a much better, bigger and architecturally significant central library on a thoroughfare that is just as busy and intimidating as Roxboro. Yet there is no concern about getting in and out of it safely, either because of traffic or poor site lines from the lobby to the door to the parking lot.

Similarly, Greensboro's central library is up against several busy city streets in a dense urban area, yet manages to have plenty of safe parking for those mamas dealing with a stack 30 books and handholding toddlers.

I'd encourage folks thinking about our downtown library to look at how other cities around us have created wonderful urban libraries that are destination points in their communities.

[Dewey deCimal]

I agree with JJ...rebuild the mail library in the current locale. For instance, that front yard doesn't really serve any purpose, very few people use the "front" doors and it's not as if neighborhood children frolic on the front lawn (even the summer book club events take place in the asphalt parking areas)...it could better be utilized as part of an expansion of the main library.