Silver Spring overdue for a new library, advocates say
A group of bookworms has endured an 11-year tease for a new library in Silver Spring. Now it wants the county to put out — and then some.
The Community for a New Silver Spring Library wants the department of libraries to boost the new facility’s size and add more computers, the group’s chairperson wrote in a Jun 9 letter.
On top of that, the group wants a literacy center for little kiddies, more exhibit space for art, lots of digital media for the area’s small-business owners, a bigger foreign language collection, an active green roof and a coffee bar.
“Libraries are changing, their purposes are changing,” Kathlin Smith, a member of the advocacy group, told Silver Spring’s neighborhoods committee last Monday night. “This is a wonderful opportunity to explore these ideas.”
Existing plans hook up 86,500 Silver Springers with a new library in Fenton Village that’s about 38,440 square feet in size, according to the group. Compare that with Rockville’s new 44,670 square-foot library, which serves about 53,000 area residents.
“One of our fears is that we open a library that’s too small,” Dan Beavin, the current library’s manager, told the neighborhoods committee. The facility on Colesville Road is already a tight squeeze, circulating 375,000 items annually within 15,000 square feet of space, he said.
“If we build a library that fulfills our dreams, it will be heavily used,” Beavin predicted.
But dreams have a way of colliding with reality. Acquiring the land, either through direct purchases or through eminent domain, has taken longer than expected. And some of the cash used to buy that land came from the county’s housing initiative fund, which means the project must include some apartments.
Current zoning laws cap the project’s height at 60 feet, which could limit the library’s size and the amount of housing and retail on the site. In April, MoCo exec Ike Leggett pitched a zoning change that would raise the roof in Fenton Village to something more like 143 feet. The county council’s housing and economic development committee mulls over that one on Thursday.
“I don’t want to see a canyon effect, but I’m concerned that if we investigate too many avenues of multi-use, we’ll see another few years’ delay,” advocate Smith told the neighborhoods committee.
And then there’s the Purple Line. One proposed route for the mass-transit project nicks the corner of Fenton and Bonifant streets, worming right through the proposed library’s ground floor. That deal hasn’t been carved in granite (or asphalt).
“We don’t want these ancillary questions to delay the opening of the library,” Smith said. “These other agendas may swallow the library.”
A community meeting on the proposed library is scheduled for July 15, according to Gary Stith, director of Silver Spring’s regional center.
Lead image of the Silver Spring library courtesy of Montgomery County Public Libraries.
Updated Jun 24, 2008, at 9:00 a.m.
19 responses to “Silver Spring overdue for a new library, advocates say”
June 23, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I really hate it when people bring up the size of Rockville’s library for the sake of comparison.
Yes, it’s 44k sq ft, but there’s also the small matter of that ridiculously oversized atrium and stairwell. Sure, they’re impressive to look at, but a 3 story artium also dramatically inflates the perception of just how much usable space this library has.
I work near the Rockville T/C, and I go there frequently. This library is spacious, but it’s no aircraft hangar.
The footprint for the SS library will be smaller, and as such, I’d expect the design to be more compact and a more efficient use of space.
Let’s quit holding up progress squabbling over details (a coffee bar? puh-lease!) and just build the darned thing already!
June 23, 2008 at 12:20 pm
When I search for books on the Montgomery County public library web site, I almost never find my preferred selection at the Silver Spring library. I have to haul my ass to Rockville, Wheaton or White Oak to check out library books. It’s pathetic.
We need a new library in Silver Spring, MoCo!
June 23, 2008 at 12:37 pm
@IHateYuppies: True, the SS library never has the books you want, but why don’t you use the “hold” feature of the county library’s website? Any book you want will be delivered to SS (or any other library) usually within a couple of days.
June 23, 2008 at 12:51 pm
We should build a bigger library. Why build a library if it will be outdated (sizewise) in a few years? The library that was built in Rockville is beautiful. I, personally, love the oversized atrium area and stairwell. I hope that the proposed SS library will be just as beautiful. I say that we get rid of any on-site parking that was planned for the site and use the extra space to expand the size of the library. I also like the concept of a coffee bar. Let’s build a library that we can be proud of.
June 23, 2008 at 2:04 pm
It is ridiculous that Silver Spring has had to wait over a decade for a new facility. Also disturbing that the POR is based upon completely outdated info. No, I don’t want any more delays but neither do I want a facility that is out-of-date before it even opens.
Also, there is really no reason that the Purple Line and the library have to compete for space. I am confident that some clever planners can figure this one out. For example - why not a public area/atrium with metro on 1st floor and library above?
Finally, what is the big deal with the height? We’re not talking the Empire State Building or even 10% of that behemoth - just 8 storeys or so! I live in East Silver Spring/Fenton Village and have absolutely no problem with the library building being close to/the same height as the hotel across the street. It’s in downtown for heaven’s sake - exactly where high-density development should be built.
On another note: can someone tell me - or can the Penguin publish - the contact info for “The Community for a New Silver Spring Library?” I’d like to get involved.
“Libraries: The medicine chest of the soul.” ~Library at Thebes, inscription over the door
Thanks
June 23, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Hello Danielle (and any other citizen who feels strongly about this issue),
My name is David Klatt and I’m a reporter for WAMU 88.5 FM. I’d like to speak with you about the kind of library you hope to have soon in Silver Spring. What will it look like? Are you a member of a community group that is speaking out for or against the proposed plans?
I’d also like to be in touch with you if you’re a member of the The Community for a New Silver Spring Library.
I can be reached at dnklatt@gmail.com
Look forward to speaking with you,
David
June 23, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I can’t believe they haven’t even started the new library yet. By the time they get around to building it, people won’t even read books on paper anymore. Of course, if and when it does move, we’ll get into the whole “the old Silver Spring library building is ‘historic’ and needs to be preserved” phase.
Here’s an easy solution: sell the land with the current library to a developer and use the down payment to start constructing the new library. With all the money they save, they can lower my property taxes.
June 23, 2008 at 4:18 pm
To all those interested in the Community for a New Silver Spring Library, I have the spokesperson’s email address but don’t want to broadcast it to the entire web. I’ll see what I can do to get everyone in touch.
June 23, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Hate to nit-pick… really…. but you’re misscalculating square inches/feet…. 1 sq ft is a box, 1 ft on each side, 12 inches on each side… hence 1 sqft = 144sqinches… not 12….. multiply all your sqinch numbers by 12…. i know… not the point of the article… but still
Editor’s note: Arrgh! I suck ass at math, so I’ve deleted the calculations from the story. Thanks, Paul. — JD (Jun 24, 2008)
June 23, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Here’s another vote for getting on with it and building the new library, but let’s do it right — which means big enough to meet the needs of Silver Spring’s growing and diverse population. To do the job right, we need more space per resident than the Rockville library has and a much larger collection than the current library has. The current Silver Spring library, which opened 51 years ago, was the largest in the County when it was built. The new one should be, too.
June 23, 2008 at 6:50 pm
It doesn’t make any sense that the important proposed facilities like the library and civic center are taking so long in Silver Spring but yet we can get yet another restaurant in a weeks time. The Silver Spring library is dark, depressing, congested and doesn’t even have a proper water fountain! Is the new proposed site on Fenton and Wayne where the china place was? It appears they are using eminent domain since the china place and mechanic place closed. But why does a library need to be some eight stories tall? I agree it should be bigger but in usable space not in height.
June 23, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Not much thought has been put into the library over the last 11 years. Now that we all want a library to be built sooner rather than later, doesn’t it make sense to think about the long term impact and use of space? We should think about the grand design and how it should impact the downtown area before we simply build something for sake of having a new library.
June 23, 2008 at 9:04 pm
The long term impacts, Bookworm are being considered and its a no brainer that it needs to be a much larger library than the ghettofied one currently in existence. It should be a spacious facility with many more computers and more of a diverse variety of books and childrens sections. Eleven years is a long time so now it needs to be built. They know what we need, they are simply being cheap.
Editor’s note: This comment was edited for content. — JD (Jun 24, 2008)
June 26, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Anyone interested in reaching the Community for a New Silver Spring Library can holler at its public email address:
CNSSLibrary@yahoo.com
June 28, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Thanks for posting the info about how to reach cnss. It is crazy that this project can’t seem to move forward. I moved here last year from the suburban desolation of Gaithersburg, land of townhouse developments and shopping centers. Into the much more neighborly and urban DTSS. Guess what, Gaithersburg’s library is far superior to SS’s. What gives? Why don’t we have enought clout to get this thing going?
July 2, 2008 at 11:37 am
As far as I know, local zoning laws are not mandated upon government projects. they could build a 500 foot apartment building so long as the county is the developer (not that the community would allow this). Recent movement has called for a new flagship downtown library in Wheaton with a large lawn for community events. this would be built on an exisitng surface lot moved underground. Developments in Wheaton also call for a new transit center with a 10 story office building and mixed use development on top. Wheaton is looking up to be a first rate downtown while Silver Spring is stuck with ugly designs for a small library that lies in the path of the Purple Line, as well as a brutalist transit center that will decrease transit use within downtown becuase it is designed to accomodate the seedy crowd that seems to characterize SIlver Spring.
July 23, 2008 at 9:54 am
Jennifer, now that the Golden House is no more and it looks like they’re really going to build a new library, do you have an info on what is going to become of the old library building? Thanks.
August 15, 2008 at 5:08 am
DC is home to the world’s only deaf university. Silver Spring has a deaf church, and there are many deaf people in the greater Washington area, particularly on the east side, where Gallaudet is. I hope the new library has services and programs for the deaf.
August 15, 2008 at 10:29 am
Thanks for your comment, Amy.
The county is throwing a public meeting on Saturday, Aug 23, to hear what people want inside the new library. That party hits the Round House Theater (8641 Colesville Rd) from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
You can also contact the libraries department directly through its website.
Holler back