Portland, ME, Main Library Move Will Be Up to Voters

-- Library Journal, 3/27/2007

The board of the Portland Public Library (PPL), ME, would like to move PPL's central library into a nearby former public market building, arguing that the more open layout could be better renovated to serve future library needs. But that would cost over a million dollars more than renovating the existing 28-year-old building, so the decision will be up to the voters. The city council voted 8-1 for voters to put the measure on the ballot, letting voters choose between the $9.6 million purchase and renovation of the nine-year-old market building and the $8.5 million renovation. Voters would decide whether to add $1 million to the $4 million renovation bond that 65 percent of voters approved in 2004; they also would add $125,000 to the $4.5 million capital campaign that funds the remaining cost.

Because the new building would be smaller (58,000 square feet) than the current one (78,000), PPL would continue to use the 27,000 square foot basement of the current facility for several years, housing administrative offices and storing some 300,000 less-used nonfiction titles. The Portland Press Herald editorialized that "voters should weigh options carefully," noting that the collection would be split and the proposal assumes the sale of the current building at a specific price. The $9.6 million price tag represents actually the difference between the cost of the building ($2.75 million) plus renovations and furnishings ($10.25 million), equaling a total of $13 million, minus income from the sale of the current branch ($3.4 million). Library director Stephen Podgajny told the newspaper that he envisions the library establishing offices and a book storage area outside downtown, to better serve the entire six-branch system as well as the many out-of-town borrowers with cards.