Ramsey County libraries look ahead

What ever happened to the idea of a quiet library?

That's one of the more philosophical questions to come out of a meeting last week in Shoreview to talk about the future of Ramsey County's suburban libraries.

But there's a more pressing question: What's the future of the Arden Hills and Mounds View branches?

A merger of the two is one possible outcome of a long-range plan the library system is developing with help from the architecture firm Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA), which designed the recently opened Maplewood branch.

Tim Carl, an architect with HGA, said the firm is working with the library system to revise its plan and analyze its service model -- where staff is located, where automation could help, what kind of programming should go where.

He said the firm's focus is on the older branches -- Shoreview, White Bear Lake, Arden Hills and Mounds View -- and library officials are trying to assess how each branch fits into the system.

The plan will go before the Library Board for deliberation at a Feb. 20 meeting, said director Susan Nemitz.

She said the meetings and the planning process are a chance "to step back, think holistically, try to introduce operating efficiencies, add technology into the buildings and create a strategy for each library."

Past context

The last time the system went through a similar strategic process was in 2003, as the state's budget crisis hit and service was suspended at the North St. Paul branch.

Since then, Nemitz said, "a lot of that master plan has been achieved," if more slowly than originally projected.

Recent developments

The system sold the North St. Paul branch and opened a smaller, satellite location in the city's community center in 2005.

Last year, a new $7.5 million library opened in Maplewood.

And the system plans to expand its Roseville branch, adding 30,000 square feet, in part to accommodate different age groups and user habits.

What about White Bear Lake?

After a community meeting in White Bear Lake last week, Nemitz said, it's evident the community would prefer to keep a smaller downtown branch rather than be the location for a larger regional library on Hwy. 96.

There was some interest expressed in building a library on city-owned property along the shore of White Bear Lake, she said, and she's interested in talking more about that if the community and city decide to go in that direction.

Expand Shoreview, Mounds View or Arden Hills?

"I can't say that yet," Nemitz said. However, she said, the system has "comprehensive coverage" in the south at the Roseville branch and in the east at the Maplewood branch. There seems to be a need for a larger more comprehensive library in the north/northeast part of the county, she said.

A Mounds View and Arden Hills merger?

There is some interest among board members in doing that in the interest of efficiency, Nemitz said. However, "there's not a clear winner" when it comes to finding an alternative site for a merged larger building. And, she said, "every time we've had public meetings, [the Arden Hills community] has felt so strongly about maintaining a library presence there. So we'll see."

And the future?

It's been a consistent opinion among the Library Board, Nemitz said, that the system's resources might be spread too thinly. Perhaps the system could be run more effectively if the number of branches were reduced. Doing so might create economies of scale to stay open longer and offer more services.

The Library Board is expected to begin to deliberate on the future of the Arden Hills and Mounds View branches, among others, at its Feb. 20 meeting.

Eric M. Hanson • 612-673-7517