Things just keep getting worse for the beleaguered Crozet library. The Board of Supervisors decided to build a replacement for the shoebox-sized library back in 2006, delayed it over and over again, and the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library finally threatened to close it entirely if they didn’t receive enough funding to keep it open. (JMRL won that political battle, getting the bit of funding that they needed from the BOS, allowing them to remain open, albeit for rather limited hours.) All this despite serving an area that has ballooned in population—they have over 10,000 visits monthly in the summer. Now comes word that the fire marshal has had to limit the building’s occupancy to fifty people, Ted Strong writes in the Progress today, and has ordered the removal of a bunch of stored materials. They’re not allowed to add more storage in the parking lot, so they’re going to have to haul things to and from the old Crozet Elementary School.
With a Board of Supervisors that’s been openly hostile to library funding, it’s tough to see when and how things will get better for the patrons of the Crozet library.
How does the 10K visits compare to other branches. Not to say I have been in any JMRL in a couple years myself. Their ebooks/audiobooks with online checkout cover my needs.
Just finished Night Circus and The Tigers Wife and am working on Parrot and Oliver in America. Cannot beat what they offer.
@danpri –
These are numbers from nearly two years ago –
http://www.realcrozetva.com/2009/12/06/crozet-library-some-numbers-on-why-its-needed/
1. Updating Jim’s number for 2010: Crozet checked out 80 items/sf/yr.
2. The rule of thumb for library size:
The VA Library Board recommends .8 square foot/person;
Albemarle County adopted .7 sf/person.
Crozet measures .069 sf/person
3. For library collections:
The VA Library Board recommends two items per person, which would mean 50,000 items for Crozet;
Crozet’s collection is approximately 33,000 and has been in zero-growth maintenance for a long time (any book coming in to the library requires another book be dumped).
“Beleaguered” and “shoe-box” are both accurate terms and a sad state of affairs for a community the BOS designated for growth. Thanks for bringing attention to this, Waldo.
Surely wealthy Albemarle County can find funds for Crozet library. Must be some foolish project out there that they can out funding for and give Crozet library what it needs.