Sunday, October 26, 1997
Plan B waiting if issue fails
By ANTHONY WILSON
Staff Writer
So what happens if the library bond fails?
Most everyone at City Hall would rather not contemplate the
consequences of voters rejecting a $10.5 million bond to build
a larger library. Still, administrators have prepared Plan B.
And they warn it won't be so pleasant as having a nice, new building.
"The choices are not palatable," City Librarian Cynthia
Pirtle said. "We're talking about really painful stuff. And
the patrons would be the ones to suffer."
Should the bond fail, the city would swiftly begin working
down a list of four options to clear some space, said Tony Neitzler,
assistant director of community services. Each of the alternatives
would incur some costs.
-- The first move would be evicting the Big Country Library
System from the library's basement. The BCLS manages interlibrary
loans and provides support services to libraries, Abilene's included,
in a geographic region larger than many states.
-- Once the basement was completely filled, services would
seep into the library's auditorium, ending its use as the building's
lone meeting place.
-- After the auditorium reached capacity, the city would relocate
the processing of its books and materials to another site, a move
that would slice into the operation's efficiency.
-- Lastly, the city would consider relocating services, though
operating inefficiencies could render that option economically
unfeasible. The only other alternative would be elimination of
services -- a real possibility, Neitzler said.
"There's nothing else we're going to be able to do at
that point," he explained. "And we're not getting that
much (space) in return.
"The community needs to ask itself if it wants to continue
the current top level of services. Some people say the library
is fine and they find everything they want here. We may not be
able to promise that in a few short years."
If voters defeat the bond, they will have rejected library
improvements thrice in 14 years.
A third defeat would cause the City Council great pause before
raising the issue again, Mayor Gary McCaleb said.
After the land purchase controversy that doomed the last election,
the council waited five years before it felt comfortable returning
to the electorate with a bond proposal. Some observers have speculated
defeat would mean up to another 10 years in the 38-year-old structure
at North 2nd and Cedar.
"I think we'd be looking at a pretty long window,"
said Neitzler, facing his third library election. "But we're
not going to be able to wait before we take some of these steps.
That would be fairly immediate. We're at the point where something
has to be done."
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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