Atlanta-Fulton PL Plan Moves Ahead

The Fulton County Board of Commissioners, GA, voted March 19 to approve the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System's plan to upgrade the county's library services by building, renovating, and closing several library facilities. It didn't, however, decide how to pay for the $150 million plan and must do so soon if the funding mechanism will be a bond referendum on the November 2008 ballot. According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, eight new libraries would cost nearly $86 million, and another $64 million would be needed to renovate or add to existing branches. Six libraries would close. The estimates don't include land costs, construction cost increases, or contingencies.

Currently, the system has 34 branches. Because the plan submitted to the county commissioners includes renovating (rather than closing or relocating) the Buckhead Branch, the commission's vote effectively rejected a local developer's proposal to buy the current building, demolish it, and construct a new branch within one of the buildings in a mixed-use development. The newspaper noted that the plan was initiated during the term of Director John Szabo, who took the reins in 2005 after years of turmoil in the system, including a reverse discrimination lawsuit and the departure of the library's director and deputy director.