Board Approves Assessment

— The principal architect of the Fayetteville Public Library will be at the center of planning for library expansion.

The library’s board of trustees on Monday unanimously voted to contract with Jeff Scherer’s Minneapolis-based firm, Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle, for a space assessment. The assessment will identify what space might be needed, where it could be built and how much it would cost.

Scherer’s firm helped develop a 1998 master plan that paved the way for a new library at School Avenue and Mountain Street. The library opened in 2004. The 1998 plan predicted new facilities would be needed by 2020.

At A Glance

Library Projects

Also on Monday, the Fayetteville Public Library’s Board of Trustees reviewed plans for several projects that could get under way this year. Projects include:

-New terrazzo flooring behind the library’s circulation desk

-A new office for the library’s information technology director

-An upgrade to the library’s financial software

-New security gates and a new patron counting system

-New storage space for the Randal Tyson Children’s Library.

The projects are expected to cost about $112,000.

Source: Fayetteville Public Library

So far, expansion ideas have included a new branch west of Interstate 540, an addition to the library’s existing building and a new facility on the City Hospital site, just south of the library.

David Johnson, library executive director, said Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle will consider each of those options.

The firm held more than 30 public input sessions more than a decade ago as designs for the library were being developed.

Johnson envisioned a similar process this year, with public meetings beginning in March or April. He said Monday a final document should be ready for review this fall.

Johnson said the library has become increasingly cramped for space. It was designed for a 300,000-item collection. According to a report Monday, the library’s collection reached 271,204 items by the end of 2012.

More than 67,500 people reportedly attended library programs last year — an increase of about 14,000 people, or 27 percent, compared with 2011. At several events, including an upcoming talk with humor writer Dave Barry, library officials have had to move shelving and bookcases to accommodate large crowds.

The space assessment is expected to cost $100,550, paid for using surplus money from the library’s 2012 budget.

Members of an architectural firm selection committee recommended a contract with Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle after receiving responses to a request for qualifications from five companies.

Library board member Kim Agee, who sat on the selection committee, said Jeff Scherer’s familiarity with the Fayetteville Public Library made the decision an easy one.

“I feel like he obviously did an excellent job, and that’s proven,” said Brenda Boudreaux, also a member of the library board. “Our community’s very diverse and very opinionated, and if we are going to do something that’s going to require funding, I think it’s important that we have done it the right way ... with community outreach and everything.”

Johnson said it’s too early in the process to know how much a library expansion would cost or how it would be paid for.

“No options are on or off the table,” he said.

Johnson mentioned the possibility of a large fundraising effort and a temporary sales tax.

Voters in 2000 approved an 18-month sales tax to pay for the new library. Private donors contributed more than $7.5 million to the effort, including a $3 million gift from Jim Blair, former general counsel for Tyson Foods.

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