A proposal to expand the Washington’s George H. & Laura E. Brown Library came back into the public spotlight Monday during the most recent meeting of the Washington City Council, and a new council subcommittee has been formed to explore options.

Steve Moler, chairperson of the Brown Library Board of Trustees, presented a space needs assessment and conceptual drawings for a potential expansion during the meeting, backed by supporters calling for progress on a longstanding proposal to grow the city’s library services and facilities.

“The situation at Brown Library is summed up in a simple phrase,” Moler told the council. “We are busting our seams. We need more space to continue to provide the services our community wants and needs.”

The cost of the expansion, as estimated in the assessment, could range between $3.3 million and $5.1 million, depending on the combination of renovations and new construction. Options explored in the assessment include the expansion of the existing library and the construction of a new facility.

City Manager Jonathan Russell, along with City Council Members Virginia Finnerty and Betsy Kane, will serve on the subcommittee to take a closer look at library expansion. Kane serves as the council liaison to the Brown Library Board of Trustees, while Finnerty brings background knowledge of past expansion efforts.

“We’re early on,” Russell said. “They’ve developed a plan with the needs assessment. That’s something we can use as a tool for planning moving forward to identify some additional funding sources to make it a little more feasible from a technical feasibility and financial feasibility standpoint. I know there’s an initial sticker shock, but I think the library is a great asset for the community, and we need to make every effort we can to improve that.”

The proposal comes at a time when the city is engaged in a number of high-dollar projects, including the construction of a new police station and downtown streetscape renovations. Washington Mayor Mac Hodges, while not opposed to the idea, says funding will be the major barrier to overcome. He suggested that putting away money in the long term could be a good approach to the project.

“It’s a big expansion,” Hodges said Wednesday. “There’s not much chance we’ve got $5 million we can grab from anywhere to do that. We’ve got some projects going on right now that’s going to make it even harder to do that. … I don’t have a problem with it. The problem you’ve got with it is that the city has a little bitty budget, and I don’t like to raise taxes.”

Russell, during the meeting, suggested that finding a clear funding path for expansion would be the way to move forward. This could include a phased approach to construction, as well as identifying potential grant funding sources to help the city pay for the project. Kane, meanwhile, spoke of the need to look at the project in the grand scheme of the city’s finances and other ongoing projects.

The space needs assessment was conducted by RB Software and Consulting, and written up by Dr. Robert Burgin, a library consultant with more than 40 years of experience in the field. His brother, William R. Burgin, with Ramsay Burgin Smith Architects, created the conceptual drawings for the proposed expansion. The assessment was conducted with $30,000 in funding from the State Library of North Carolina and a $30,000 match from the Friends of the Brown Library.

THE ARGUMENT FOR EXPANSION

The assessment points to 19,000 current Brown Library cardholders and projects considerable population growth in the Brown Library Service area in the next 20 years.

Looking at what the facility’s needs may be two decades from now, the study recommends added space for library programs and public meetings, more space for the North Carolina History Room, additional space for children’s and teen programming, added technology space, new tutoring and study rooms and more space for library staff.

According to the most recent statistics from the State Library of North Carolina, Brown Library ranks in the top 10 libraries in the state on a number of measures, including:

• Ranked first among 81 N.C. public libraries in library visits per capita
• Ranked second in reference transactions per capita, book volumes per capita and percentage of population registered
• Ranked third in public internet workstations per 5,000 people
• Ranked fifth in collection expenditures per capita and total collection use per capita

A LONG HISTORY

The idea of expanding the Brown Library is nothing new for the City. In 2015, the city purchased the historic home known as the Carter House at 415 W. Second St., followed by the purchase of another house at 411 W. Second St. in 2016. The purpose of those purchases was to give the city options for expanding Brown Library in the future.

However, a 2017 vote by the City Council to demolish the Carter House for library expansion set off a wave of controversy, with historic preservationists urging the Council to reconsider. Ultimately, the council relented, directing city staff to work with Preservation NC to attempt to sell the house and possibly have it relocated. The house is currently listed for sale with Preservation NC for $70,000. The proposed expansion of the library, as presented, would not impact the Carter House or the other home on West Second Street.

While no funds were allocated during the meeting, Moler said he saw it as a positive first step, both in presenting the proposal to the public and starting a conversation to possibly make it a reality.

“I compliment the mayor and city council for appointing a subcommittee to assist in continuing the discussion about the expansion and maybe trying to work through some of the options we have to figure out what the city can or can’t do over the next two or three years,” Moler said Wednesday.