Excellent Libraries Keep Pace With Their Communities
Library Needs
The Chapel Hill Public Library continues to have the highest per capita use of any public library in the state. Chapel Hill patrons check out 18 books per resident each year, twice as many as the next busiest library in the state.
The Library's current needs are many, as the 2003 Library Master Plan makes clear. Many of these needs (for example, the need for a larger book collection) have arisen due to local population growth and increasing patron rates, which simply have outstripped the Library's current resources.
Even though the reports were issued several years ago, many of these needs still have not been met.
- NEED: Many, many more books. The Library does not have enough books in its collection to meet the needs of the community. The Library only has 2.7 books per capita, even though our community should have 4.0 books per capita.
- NEED: More non-print materials. The Library has an inadequate collection of non-print materials (e.g., books on tape/CD).
- NEED: New types of non-print materials. To stay current with the ways in which our community reads and learns, the Library should have a collection of E-books and literary/documentary DVDs.
- NEED: More shelving. The Library will need to purchase more shelving as its book and non-print collections expand.
These are just some of the needs that have been identified and which must be met in order to maintain and expand the excellence of the Chapel Hill Public Library.
The Foundation's board currently is discussing how we can best help the Library raise the funds needed to meet some of its most pressing needs. We expect to present our plan to the community later this year.
