Lack of Library Angers East Roswell
by Jonathan Copsey, Beaconcast.com, December 27, 2007
It seems that Roswell takes its reading seriously. Very seriously.
At last week’s Roswell City Council meeting, Eileen Seidman, of East Roswell, gave a presentation on the
desperate need for Roswell to get another library east of Ga. 400. This impassioned plea was followed by
a proclamation by Mayor Jere Wood declaring that the city supports the effort for another library and
is granting free land to the county on which to build such a library.
But this is only the middle of the debate. The proposal for an East Roswell library was floated way back
in 2002, when the library board had no money to construct a building. Mayor Wood offered the state a free
tract of land at the corner of Holcomb Bridge Road and Fouts Road to sweeten the deal and, according to
Eileen Seidman, one of the members of the community pushing for the new library, the chairman of the board
at that time said, “We never turn free land down.”
This was a good sign. Roswell Public Library has the highest circulation and usage numbers in all of
Fulton County, with North Fulton in general having very high numbers – perhaps due to the need for
entertainment while waiting in traffic. And traffic may be at the root of the library problem.
“When the children get out of school which is 3:30, 4:00, it’s almost impossible to get to the library and
come home in a decent way because of the heavy traffic coming across Holcomb Bridge,” said Seidman. “It’s
a traffic problem. Also we have five schools here. A high school, middle school and three elementary
schools. So the need for those students is very important.”
So the problem was identified, land was given and the board was willing to make it happen. Everything was
working out fine, right?
Well, no, actually.
People started moving into action again after John Szabo, director of the Atlanta Libraries, visited Roswell
in September – five years after the original offer and pledge to build a new library – to unveil and receive
feedback about Fulton County’s master plan for improving and updating the county’s many libraries. Nowhere
in this plan was Roswell mentioned.
Suitably incensed, Seidman and other concerned citizens founded PEARLS (People for the East Roswell Library)
and stormed throughout the city, collecting well over one thousand signatures in less than a week, until they
finally ended up at Wood’s office.
“We can do the groundwork but we need someone to do the political work,” said Seidman.
And once again Wood has stepped up to the plate, first giving the proclamation at the council meeting, then,
last Wednesday, going into Atlanta to speak with the Board of Trustees of Fulton County Libraries at their
monthly meeting. Members of PEARLS spoke as well.
“Although we have a branch, 400 might as well be a death valley you have to cross over,” said Wood during his
presentation.
Lynn McEntyre, speaking for PEARLS, added: “This sleeping giant has awakened and it wants to read!”
The board was duly cowed by the appearance of an actual audience for their meeting – a rare occurrence – which
was entirely made up of Roswellians.
“We’re dedicated to making it [an East Roswell branch] happen,” said chairman John Thomas, after the presentations.
Director Szabo had similar words. “The forum in Roswell was the best attended forum that was held [in the county].
If we did build a library in East Roswell, it would be heavily used, I have no doubt about it.”
“Making changes to this plan, based on recommendations of our citizens, is a good thing,” he added.
So the board is now willing to change their plan, which they say was flexible anyway. What happens now?
“The goal now is to mesh a lot of the public input into the plan and change it where it needs to be changed so that
what’s recommended to the Board of Commissioners is a plan that respects and acknowledges the public input and at
the same time is fair and equitable to everyone,” said Szabo. “Obviously we’d love to build 100,000 square-foot
libraries throughout the county, but it’s about making certain that we have as equitable library service as we can.
In some instances in our county it’s not, currently. There are areas where we don’t have libraries and we’re not
servicing them.”
East Roswell is certainly one of those areas, but Roswell will not know if it will get the new library until February,
when the Library board presents its plan to Fulton County.
“There should have been one a long time ago,” said Seidman, sadly. “The county somehow or another has neglected the
North Side.”
Milton Getting New Libraries, But Not Roswell, Sandy Springs
by Mary MacDonald, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 27, 2007
Milton should gain a major new library in the next several years, thanks to steady population growth. But Roswell and Sandy Springs will have to settle for renovations rather than new facilities.
The proposed master plan for the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System is a mixed bag for Northside communities. And in the months leading up to its approval, several community leaders have tried to intervene to change their fortunes.
Roswell, in particular, has pressed hard for a second library, with advocates arguing the city has the population and traffic congestion to warrant two libraries. Under the master plan, the existing library at 115 Norcross St. will get a major, $1.7 million renovation.
The existing Sandy Springs library at 395 Mount Vernon Highway also will get a major renovation, but no expansion.
Advocates in both cities want more.
A group called People for a Library in East Roswell have collected more than 1,000 signatures over the past several months, asking for a library at Fouts and Holcomb Bridge roads, where the city has property it is willing to share. Roswell Mayor Jere Wood and the City Council are supporting the effort.
"All we can do is try," said Eileen Seidman, president of the advocacy group. "But our neighborhood needs it."
Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos also took on an activist stance. She encouraged city residents in September to attend a public forum on the proposed master plan and ask for a second library in the city.
The system's plan, unveiled almost a year ago, is expected to go before the 11-member board of the library system in February 2008, said John Szabo, the library system's director. The board will then make a recommendation to the full Fulton County Commission, which decides the final package of library improvements.
For the past several months, the library system has held 37 public forums on its proposed expansion, Szabo said. All of the comments will be considered, he said. In Milton, he said, residents asked for a more centrally located library than the Birmingham community.
"We have certainly heard a great demand for library service," he said. "It's fair to say that many, many residents would like bigger libraries and more of them."
Ultimately, he said, the needs of the entire system have to be balanced.
"We plan libraries and try to plan where they're located and their sizes in as fair and equitable a way as possible," he said.
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