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Library purchases former hospital property to address overcrowding

7/25/2014


The Montgomery County Public Library Board of Trustees recently executed a purchase agreement with St. Joseph Mt. Sterling/Catholic Health Initiatives for the old Mary Chiles Hospital property. The acquisition initiates a long-term plan to address overcrowding at current library facilities and community growth. Montgomery County has been identified in the top 10 list for growing county populations in Kentucky.
The Mary Chiles property, at the corner of Sterling Avenue and North Sycamore Street, will provide a greater ability to meet the increased need of the growing community, a release said.
According to state records, the local library is one of the more heavily used public library buildings in Kentucky.
“On a square foot per capita basis, we are literally bursting at the seams, in fact, state standards indicate that we should have library space with over twice as much square footage as the current building” said library director Melissa Smathers-Barnes. “When the library was originally built, it was adequate for the county population at the time, however, as the community has continued to grow, the size of the library has remained the same. The library has worked to overcome space limitations by extending evening hours until 8 p.m. several nights a week, increasing Bookmobile service throughout the county and adding a small branch in Camargo. However, even with the extra efforts, space limitations frequently inhibit the ability to meet the full need of our community.”
Throughout the past 10 years, library board members have considered several options for additional library space, visiting potential locations and meeting with a variety of community leaders and representatives all in an effort to seek a resolution to space limitations. Informational surveys conducted for the past several years have indicated concern regarding lack of parking, crowded conditions in the current library building and inability to provide some services routinely provided by other public libraries, simply due to lack of space, a release said.
The recently acquired property will allow the library board to plan for a means of successfully meeting the needs of a growing community, “having acquired sufficient space for parking and essential community services at a more than reasonable price, thanks to the diligent efforts of local representatives from the St. Joseph Hospital.”
Library Board Chairman Chris Peck stated that the library board has met with several architect firms demonstrating library planning experience. The firm of Murphy, Graves and Trimble was chosen to assist in planning library facilities to address current needs while considering future trends.
Glenna Whitaker, Ann Ballard, Betty Collins, Donna Howell and Barry Tonning, having recently served on a subcommittee to update the library’s strategic plan, applauded news of the property purchase.
“We need more space,” Ballard said.
Whitaker and Collins agreed, noting that Menifee County and other regional counties have moved forward with new libraries to address community needs.
“Now, it is finally time for Montgomery County to move forward to better serve the community,” a release said.
Several committees consisting of volunteer community representatives have already been involved in beginning phases of a library project; assessing community demographics, identifying community needs and defining the role that modern libraries play in addressing those needs. Continued community input will be an important part of the process as planning moves forward.