Bugg Stories vol. 3

this is morning edition on ninety point three wpln nashville needs more books magazines research materials and computer terminals and the library board to provide them but even if we had more we had nowhere to put them that's the mission of a new library expansion and renovation plan which calls for spending one hundred twenty five million dollars to boost the library's collections and services and more than triple the square footage of the system the thing that struck me without a doubt when you walk here in the main library you walk about how in the different branches around davidson county is they are just so small there's simply not enough square footage to conduct the current library business that everyone's trying to do director of libraries done a man singing when the staff here is we're going to work very very hard to to give good service but it is to simply not enough room behind the checkout desperate for enough people to standard there's not enough room for you to sit down and study it the children's areas right next to people trying to do research or studying just not enough physical space as currently recommended for

the one hundred twenty five million dollar price tag taxpayers will get a new downtown library six new regional libraries renovated branches and homework centers essentially more space for new books documents computers reading areas and meeting rooms mayor phil bredesen considers the undertaking a top priority is preparing to ask the metro council for the money to fund it though the radisson and library administrators believe the cornerstone of the plan is the new main library a building that should be both notable and symbolic laura rozen nashville does not have a town square unlike the other ninety four season in the state of tennessee endowment and and i really i really like the idea of trying to use a location a library as thing that generates what what is the middle of downtown what is the middle of downtown nashville and make a place and i you know for us to have the town square to be library square incident courthouse where i think some nice touch consultants have proposed a

more than three hundred thousand square foot building that's about two and half times the size of the down tempo stuff as our multiply the current main library by four and a half the tab for this one structure is fifty four million dollars nearly half the money needed for the entire plan director diamond seaney doesn't flinch at the price she says the new downtown library will be the heart of the system housing all the major collections special collections possibly even at the hitter community meeting rooms and retail shops he could be possible in this new library that let's say you had to do some research for a client say you were small businessman woman you've had this researcher had to be done it had to do in a hurry down to the main library you get assistance from reference librarian you look at the online services that say then you take your laptop grover to a study area put the laptop him you produce your report then that part's done you walk down stairs to a copy shop you hand that to the person to say make three copies find it in this way and now to such and such and then to go next

door and celebrate the cup of coffee in a cafe in the new best seller now that's all possible in the kind of library that we're talking about one step down from the main will be the regional libraries sort of big branches ones that can hold more documents and provide more services than existing local libraries no one argues that these regional centers are needed neighborhood libraries are bursting at the seams most with little room for expansion and so the new regionals most notably creek hall tusk hermitage in bellevue will reach now and served areas of metro but what some patrons don't want to see is the last of their neighborhood library is currently recommended ritual park what can spark donalson and counseling branches will close when a new regional so open thompson lane is a tiny branch just a few hundred feet from the bustling intersection with no wins will wrote it's sandwiched between a small metro park and surrounding businesses and has no room to expand services for its diverse community ruane you a free black people including at the table doing homework with her

mother and you with the white children will play with a lot of that an asian family won't feel rodale you see people managers wouldn't go somewhere else could've the people man who walk or a lot about people i could not to the conflict korea part of it is being investigated writer steven mean often uses thompson line he says the library branch does have its problems it is very small it doesn't have a very big collection that you can get documents from other branches and he believes that the community loses the library than a certain segment of the population will never use library services again and so his job was to do the most efficient effective system and a proposed proposal and that's what he did library director donna man singing he was thinking of it in terms of dollars and cents the cemetery have to open a building at the step to build we have to turn on the lights for an air conditioner there's an expense involved

so yes it may be more efficient to have fewer libraries and that is part of what we're talking about but if people speak clearly and say oh no they really want their local libraries and we've heard from some counseling council people and that's that sentiment seems to be very strong oh i kind doorstep will please understand this there's costs involved with that but that's the kind of decision making it's going and citizens using the richland part branch made their feelings clear demand seen ian the mayor at a public hearing two weeks ago calling for their branch to remain open politically the plan looked like a sure bet of the dozen or so members of the metro council meeting with the mayor last week all seemed ready to support it as long as neighborhood branches are lost in the shuffle gasoline stored clifton i like the emphasis that so all this going on and not getting so wrapped up in the new regional lubbers that we

really feel like we have to close a smaller ones i think those are important committee senators agree with councilman kallstrom that we really shouldn't be closing public spaces the clothes that i called the bootleggers very concerned about those people can't get to the region's transportation and you have this elaborate year that there was close something that the mayor and council members didn't discuss is how to fund the project they're considering a two phased approach and the mayor says the initial funding will probably be available for property reassessment if the reassessment increased the values about twenty percent of the energy which we represent for a half percent years ago and everything that has gone up that much inflation is almost that much and that produces heat to put it all in bond casting produces six or seven hundred million dollars of bonding capacity i would put on a long shot of bonding capacity but certainly the idea of picking up a hundred million dollars of

vipers and ninety million dollars in schools you know before an extraordinary sense for even in a recession the mayor says he will present a specific plan to the counsel on the spring detail and how many regional libraries are needed which if any small branches will close and where the downtown library will be located the site will be selected by january in the meantime the mayor will continue to listen to public comment on the plan a public hearing will begin tonight at six at the madison branch another hearing will be october twenty four that six at times you're in elementary and at least four more hearings have been tentatively scheduled for nashville public radio i'm going down to the law don't say it de janeiro and now now i'm like homes and they like me you know so when i

go to the library and sit down in mind