ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996                TAG: 9608120102
SECTION: EDITORIAL                PAGE: A-4  EDITION: METRO 

SPACE CRUNCH DON'T SHELVE A PROPOSED NEW LIBRARY

ABOUT 2,900 people visit Roanoke city's Main Library each week. That's a lot, but doubtless there would be more if patrons didn't usually have to pay to park their cars before they can get to the downtown library.

The lack of free parking, a public-access barrier to taxpayer-supported library services, has been a problem since the early '80s when the building, circa 1952, was expanded - ironically, to serve more people. The expansion coincided with renovation of Elmwood Park, the library's lovely setting, and the closing of a side street to create a walkway from the park to the City Market area.

The parking problem alone wouldn't justify construction of a new $24 million central library. But that's not the facility's only problem. The library has a space crunch in every department. It's not up to par in modern technology. A consultant's study projects that use of the library will continue to increase. The structure has design flaws that make another expansion unfeasible.

A new building is suggested by the consultant's analysis of the city's library system, which includes five branch facilities. The study also suggests considering the closing of two of the branches - in Gainsboro and Jackson Park - because they're underutilized, their service areas overlap with the Main Library's, and further drops in use are projected.

Before anyone panics, keep in mind these are preliminary findings. The importance of a library, moreover, can extend beyond the use of its materials to its presence in a neighborhood and in collective memory. For that matter, the eventual site of a new central library might void the overlapping-service factor in the underutilization of the branches.

For now, only the need for a new main library seems indisputable, and planning for that should begin.

Now would also be a good time for budget-makers to stop shortchanging the library system and start recognizing its potential as a resource for education, recreation, community building, economic development, and equal access to our era's unprecedented information riches.

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