You might think that this library closure is for financial reasons related to the current economic climate, but you'd only be partially right. The truth is more complex, and frankly, a bit sinister. It seems that a brand-new library has just been completed in the town of Hillsborough (the county seat), but the Board of Commissioners neglected to allocate sufficient funds to actually staff it properly. As a result, the county manager wants to close two outlying county-operated libraries (Carrboro Branch and Cedar Grove libraries) and re-assign their permanent staff to the Hillsborough library.
I find this decision to be unacceptable. As a Carrboro resident, I am forced to pay property taxes and fees to Orange County, in exchange for which I am entitled to certain services, library access being one of them. But with the closure of outlying library branches, I am effectively being deprived of such service -- service that I and other Carrboro residents have paid for. Hillsborough is nearly a half-hour away by car, and in addition there is no public transportation from my area to there. This recommendation to close my local library and move staff to the more distant library amounts to a theft of taxpayer resources from an outlying area.
It gets weirder. The proposal to build the new library was rammed through the Board of Commissioners last year in just a few days, without public input or any sort of library advisory recommendations. As a result, not only do we have this financial mess, we have what seems to be a poorly-designed library, with two stories and a workroom in the middle of the first floor, which apparently means that more staff than usual will be required to adequately keep it running. Obviously, no librarian was consulted on how a library ought to be designed. I'm very disappointed at how this worked out, and I think it's unfair that other areas of the county pay the price for an administrative bungle.
The closest other library to me (aside from the small, computer-oriented Cybrary) is the Chapel Hill Public Library, which is a municipal facility operated not by Orange County (although it receives county funds), but by the town of Chapel Hill. Right now, I can get a library card from them at no cost, but they have threatened to start charging non-Chapel Hill residents if use increases much (as it certainly would if Carrboro Branch were closed), to the tune of $100-$200 per year. This is an unfair burden to place on poorer citizens who use the library, especially people who have already paid county taxes.
^The Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library and I have attended three Commissioners' meetings so far, and we've spoken out during the "public comments" section of each meeting. I've also whipped up some signs that we can hold while we glare at the commissioners:
^"Don't STEAL from Carrboro taxpayers! Keep Carrboro Branch open!"
^ "We ♥ and USE our library! Don't close Carrboro Branch!"Money is tight, of course, but I hope the Board doesn't overcorrect their management error by shutting down a well-used library. In hard times, libraries are more important than ever. While I was working there, quite a few people came in to use the computers and other library resources in their job-seeking efforts. I vividly recall helping out several seniors who had been forced to re-enter the job market due to a loss of their post-retirement income. These people had barely (or never) used a computer, but they were soon logging on to their own email accounts and making resumes with word-processing software. The library also has many immigrant users who use library resources to help them learn English or acquire materials in their native languages. And of course, the library is a great asset to McDougle Middle and Elementary schools, with which it shares space.
All of these factors and more demonstrate how important a library is for the community during a recession. It's comparatively inexpensive (the entire library system consumes a mere 1% of Orange County's budget), and is an economic and educational engine that studies have shown returns more to the community than it costs.
In addition to attending and speaking at the commissioners' meetings, I've also emailed all of the commissioners and set up a Facebook petition. If you live in Orange County and care at all about the library and/or proper allocation of your tax dollars, please take a moment to email the commissioners expressing your support for the library, and also sign the online petition. If you're feeling really ambitious, the next commissioners' meeting is on Tuesday, May 26th.
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