March 9, 2006
Chairman Ulysses Currie and Members of the Senate Committee on Budget and Taxation, and Chairman Norman H. Conway and Members of the House Committee on Appropriations
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Friends of the Mount Rainier Library (FOL) offers its sincere appreciation to District 47 Senator Gwendolyn Britt and Delegates Niemann, Parker, and Ramirez for introducing SB414 and HB591. We are very grateful to our state team for its leadership with this legislation.
The legislation seeks a $600,000 state matching grant to help the City of Mount Rainier develop a new building on Maryland’s historic Route One, the City’s "main street." The first element listed as a component of the proposed building is a library. We strongly support the establishment of a new library that would be wholely located on the ground floor of such a building. County library staff stressed that security and ease of access require that the entire library be located on the ground floor. This was a key conclusion of last year’s design process sponsored by the City.
Community Needs a New Library. Mount Rainier and its neighboring jurisdictions urgently need a new library. Our City is economically diverse, with an average income well below county and state averages. The same is true for our neighbors. This means that there are many families that lack the educational reading materials and computer equipment in the home that children need. With two public elementary schools, one private elementary school, and several day-care facilities, the demand for library services in our area well exceeds the capability of the existing facility.
The current library facility is owned by the City and operated by the Prince George's County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS). Built in 1952, the current library building is the oldest branch that has never been expanded or replaced. Further, at about 1,200 gross square feet, it is the smallest branch in the system. This severe size problem is shown in photographs in your packet
The facility becomes overcrowded when more than 15-20 people are there. This limits the opportunities for school class visits. To put this in perspective, in most other libraries, the children’s area alone is about twice the size of our entire library. Also, many libraries have a meeting room that is larger than our entire library building. The size constraint limits the collections and ability to accommodate patrons which, in turn, deters use.
The decay of the library building is also a deterrent, showing up in more frequent physical problems. The antiquated electrical system makes it difficult to install computers and modern electronic equipment. Other recent problems include roof leaks and failures of the heating and cooling systems. Also, the building has very poor indoor air quality, which makes it completely unusable for people with allergies, asthma, and other respiratory problems.
Library Needs Ground Floor Location. Over the past 10 years, FOL has sought an improved "main street" library facility in the town center. As part of the design process, this effort has included visits to many libraries state-wide to identify desirable aspects for a modest-sized community library that can generate activity and help spur revitalization. In 2001, a partnership between FOL and the City led to a county grant that supported library planning/design forums that had extensive involvement from the Prince George's County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) and a broad cross-section of the community.
Last year, the City engaged the Neighborhood Design Center to lead a planning/design process for a new building at the current library location. In order to meet important needs put forward by the leadership of the county library system, a key conclusion of the design process was that the new library needs to occupy the ground floor level. This is necessary for both security and easy access for library patrons, and it would have the added benefit of creating visible activity that will have a positive spin-off value for neighboring businesses.
For the project addressed by this legislation, the previous library design work has been adapted to a concept for a ground-level facility that would occupy the full site footprint of about 2,500 gross square feet. While a larger size would be desirable, this is not possible due to the combined constraints of the site footprint and the PGCMLS policy that requires a single-story facility. Attached is a copy of the concept drawing that shows the configuration of the library that was approved at the final City planning session last year. The drawing is also on the FOL web site.
Innovations Would Enhance Library/Building. FOL is excited about the prospect of an innovative approach to the design of the new library and overall building. We believe that several themes could help make the library a point of pride for Maryland, as well as for our community. Given the size constraint, a key design theme may be to stress the use of computer equipment to take advantage of, and participate in, the movement toward electronic media (talking books, ebooks, educational DVDs) and thereby help bridge the digital divide. Also, like the City’s police station, this building design could employ state-of-the-art green design features that would enhance the functional and aesthetic character of the building, while significantly reducing long-term energy costs. Further, to assert its place in the Gateway Arts District, an arts design theme could be reflected, for example, through the building facade and through library exhibition space that would be visible to sidewalk pedestrian traffic.
Library Helps Revitalization. Mount Rainier's entrance-way to Maryland has suffered decades of neglect and decay, leading to blight and crime. The history of economic redevelopment in our town center is a case in “bootstrap” revitalization. The City has worked for nearly 20 years to revitalize this business area. A new library would be a significant contribution to this effort. Like a food store, bank, or post office, the library will be an activity generator the draws people to the business area and thereby would boost revitalization on Route One. This project will remove major blight, support bus transit, stimulate economic renewal, and propel smart growth.
The City is a state priority area for smart growth funding. The blighted conditions of Route One have left our City Government with a greatly depressed tax base and inordinately high costs for police services, which impair its ability to fund major capital projects. Thus, state leadership in funding is sorely needed and will give a major boost to this project.
FOL thanks the Senate and House Committees for considering SB414/HB591 and, assuming the bill would support a ground-floor library location, we strongly urge that you approve this legislation.
Sincerely yours,
Fred Sissine (former Mayor, 1993-2001)
Friends of Mount Rainier Library
P.O. Box 273, Mount Rainier, MD, 20712
FOL web site: http://mtrainierfol.org/
301-927-2125
fred.sissine@verizon.net