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March 3, 2009
Millville library plans future with a little help
DailyJournal.com
By JOEL LANDAU • Staff Writer • February 27, 2009
MILLVILLE -- The staff at the Millville Public Library is trying to determine what the city will need from their library in the future.
"Twenty years down the road, we want to ensure the facility is a viable organization," said Bill Gant, president of the library's board of trustees. "The facility is more than 40 years old, and we've outgrown it."
The library held a town meeting with about two-dozen residents Thursday. The library hired a firm, Library Development Solutions in Princeton, to collect input and make recommendations on what the library should offer.
Alan Burger, one of the firm's principals, said he's asking people about the library's services, collections, programs, hours, staff, policies and the facility.
Burger said he also will make a survey available for residents at the library for a few weeks. The firm will supply the board with a report in April, Burger said. The report will outline what the library should offer, and if the facility has enough room to provide it, he said.
Gant said the biggest concerns people mention is security inside and outside the Buck Street building, as well as its space limitations. The board is considering developing a plan to build a new facility, he said.
"We're well past the capacity of the 'It's a building to handle what we need to do here,'" he added. "This is a new era, and technology is more important."
Residents at the meeting suggested better management of the noise level and content viewed on the computers, displaying more art, adding to the collection and encouraging more people to come in and support the library.
The residents in attendance all said how important the facility is in their lives, and resident Debbe Watts added she takes college courses and needs the library's computer lab.
"Anything can grow, but the people at the library do a great job," she said. "I love the library."
Posted by tumulty at March 3, 2009 12:14 PM
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