Viewpoints
Proper Planning for our Library
By Susan Peters
August 16, 2010
Monday PM
Soon the City's registered voters will have the opportunity to
vote for the location of the new library. We all are very anxious
to have a new library building or remodeled existing building.
Now that funding may become available very soon we need to be
ready with a good plan. Planning is a crucial component with
establishing the site for this facility. A simple search on-line
will bring up extensive information on the importance of the
location of a library. Currently the government body responsible
for this decision has no planning department nor have they engaged
our Borough's Planning Department to help with this decision.
My on-line research brought up the following information on site
selection: Selecting a site for a new library involves many of
the same considerations that would be involved in selecting a
site for a business. It should be located where people go to
conduct business, not where they live. It should be located on
a major street with easy accessibility and high visibility .
(Kansas Library System-2007). And from Anne Krieg, AICP Bar Harbor
Planning Director, when told of our City s decision for the site,
That is a shame - libraries are true anchors in a core business
district.
As a successful private developer would say "The three most
important ingredients of any project are: location, location,
location." A bank that is poorly located will not prosper,
nor a food store or an apparel shop. Neither will a public library.
Acquiring anything less than the best site will prove a false
economy in terms of the life-cycle costs of the library. Anything
less than the best site will also hinder public use of this important
community resource. www.statelibrary.sc.org.
Proper planning for our community for a new or remodeled library
is Downtown! Please vote YES on Prop 2.
Susan Peters
Ketchikan, AK
About: "Resident since
1978"
Received August 15, 2010 -
Published August 16, 2010
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