Getting a Permanent Home for Our Branch Library –
the Survey Results
The Friends of the Piedmont Avenue Library (Friends of PAL) conducted a survey to gather and document the opinions of the neighbors on the questions facing the library as its current lease on the modular building at 80 Echo Avenue nears the 2022 expiration date.
Over 550 people completed the questionnaire and 93% of them said they would be willing to pay for keeping the library in the neighborhood. Here are the highlights:
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93% would support a special parcel assessment (or tax), and of that number 53% said they’d be willing to pay $25 per parcel.
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When ranking objectives for next year, 42% thought renewing the lease for the current temporary building should be number one, while 47% thought moving to another building on or near Piedmont Avenue should take top priority.
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95% felt it was very important to maintain a library in the neighborhood.
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72% would like to see the size increased.
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86% said they use the library, and of that number, 31% reporting they use it at least once a month.
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When asked where the library should be placed, 51% replied “anywhere in the neighborhood.”
Additional information is available at
friendsofPAL.org .
Saving a Treasure
Did you take the survey? More than 500 did, all over the neighborhood. Forms were collected from Piedmont Gardens, Piedmont Systems, the Piedmont Avenue Library, a PANIL meeting, people on the street and folks passing through the Morcom Rose Garden. Final figures show strong support for moving the library into the much larger CDC building next door on the corner of Echo and Glen.
Comments like “we must keep it in the neighborhood”, “a larger library with meeting rooms would definitely be a community asset”, and “please do what you can to keep the current location” appear over and over in the written responses.
The Piedmont Avenue library has been in the neighborhood for more than 100 years and part of the city library system since 1932. When it lost its home on 41
st
street, next to Citibank, and moved into the portable building it currently occupies, the library became one of the smallest size wise in the system, but – get this – it is among the busiest. The limited space doesn’t stop programs like story time and crafts projects from happening.
Crowds of children, accompanied by their parents, make seating a challenge and quite a few choose to sit on the floor. One survey respondent said, ‘would love to see a space that could truly accommodate story time”. And a teacher says, “I am so grateful for PAL (Piedmont Avenue Library). They are an excellent resource for my classroom”. A mother wrote, “I love the Piedmont Avenue Library, as do my husband and two kids (aged 7 and 9).”
Indeed, it’s difficult to find a time when there are no children in the library, attending a program or accompanying an adult. At times the area around the entrance looks like a parking lot for strollers.
But there are plenty of books and programs for the parents and grandparents, too, as well as CDs. Many of the folks who took the survey voiced their opinions about those aspects of the library. But you’ll have to wait till next month’s issue of HOOT to find out what they said.
By Ruby Long
Ruby is a neighbor whose work has appeared in local and national publications.
