Howard County has an award-winning library system and we are lucky to have two of the library's biggest branches here in Columbia. However, the Central Library is 27 years old. It has the highest circulation in the county. More space is needed for books and people inside, and more parking is needed outside.

So there is a proposal build a new and bigger central library on Columbia Association land in Symphony Woods, and General Growth Properties proposes that the current library building be torn down to make room for a road which will connect to its proposed addition of 1,500 dwelling units and 3 million square feet of office space on its Crescent property.

However, there is another solution to the library's problems. Why not utilize the Library's wonderful computer system to create mini-libraries in each village? A mini-library should provide computer terminals for browsing the collection and getting onto the Internet, a place to pick-up books and other library materials that have been ordered via the computer, a place to return library materials, places for reading and studying and a small collection of popular books, newspapers and magazines.

The mini-libraries would reduce the pressure on the Central and East Columbia branches. They would bring more foot traffic to the villages and less car traffic to the two branches, which would conserve gasoline and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Maybe these mini-libraries could serve as a village focal point for other local services such as a mini-post-office, or maybe they could be connected with youth activity centers, child-care facilities or senior services.

Building a fine new large Central Library would be a monument to our successful library system. It could cost up to $10 million and not be done for 10 years. Wouldn't it be better to create a world-class distributed library system; save money, save time, save an architecturally interesting building, save parking space, save trees in Symphony Woods, help save the villages, and help save the planet from global warming?

Stephen Meskin

Town Center

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