Residents Review Library Study

FAYETTEVILLE — Several dozen residents got a sneak peek Monday at what could become plans for an expanded public library.

Jeffrey Scherer, who designed the library’s current Mountain Street building, led a discussion of a 20-year master plan proposal his Minneapolis-based architecture firm has been putting together since February.

Most of Monday’s discussion centered around a possible 80,000-square-foot addition south of the library where the former City Hospital sits vacant. The library is about 88,000 square feet.

The expansion idea hinges on Washington Regional Medical Center’s willingness to sell the City Hospital property to the library. The library’s board of trustees last month offered the medical center $2 million out of its reserve fund for the previously city-owned land. Renderings Scherer presented Monday showed an expanded library using a little more than half of the 4.2 acres.

Medical center board members could make a decision on the library board’s offer at their Aug. 20 meeting. Hospital administrators have received multiple bids for the former nursing home, but have declined to identify other bidders.

Scherer, in his presentation Monday, envisioned an expanded collection — from about 275,000 materials to 400,000 in 2030. He said a “maker space” would let people record and edit videos or design projects using 3-D printers. More meeting rooms, public computers, as many as 373 new parking spaces and a 750-seat auditorium also were included in the draft master plan. Scherer said the auditorium could feature a retractable stage and seats, allowing the room to be cleared to accommodate 1,000 children during a summer reading event. It also could be used for piano recitals or performances by local theater troupes, Scherer added.

The library, which was designed to house a 300,000-item collection, has been approaching that threshold in recent years. David Johnson, the library’s executive director, said meeting rooms and the library’s computer lab are often filled. During big events, like a talk earlier this year with humor writer Dave Barry, shelves had to be moved. Those types of events can temporarily take a portion of the library out of commission, Johnson said.

Scherer said he designed the library expecting use from a little more than 60 percent of Fayetteville’s population. At the end of 2011, library officials reported 65,084 cardholders, about 87 percent of the city’s population that year, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

“Fayetteville is off the charts in terms of its use of materials in proportion to other cities around the region and nationally,” Scherer said.

If Washington Regional board members decide not to sell to the library, library officials will explore other options, including more floors on the existing building and/or at least one branch location farther from downtown.

The library board’s $2 million offer is only for the City Hospital land. Scherer said he wouldn’t have cost estimates for construction until project designs begin.

Tim Schatzman of Fayetteville said following Monday’s meeting he liked the idea of a flexible auditorium space that could be used for performances or lectures through the University of Arkansas’ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Susan Cockrell of Fayetteville said she’d like to see more expanded space for library usage rather than for parking.

Johnson has said more parking is needed to accommodate large library events.

The Fayetteville Public Library opened in 2004. Voters approved a temporary sales tax that collected $19.3 million between 2000 and 2002 for library construction. An $8.1 million fundraising campaign that included $5.5 million in donations from Jim Blair, Barbara Tyson and the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation also went toward the project.