By Bruce Pringle

Delaware State News

DOVER — Kent County Levy Court declined Tuesday to move forward on a proposal to join with the city of Dover in providing library services.

In an informal vote following a lengthy discussion with representatives of the city, only three of the seven Levy Court commissioners favored continuing discussion with Dover on starting a regional library system that would feature a state-of-the-art library next to City Hall.

The three included commissioners Eric L. Buckson, Bradley S. Eaby and Richard E. Ennis. They were outvoted by Commission President P. Brooks Banta and commissioners Allan F. Angel, Harold K. Brode and George "Jody" Sweeney.

"We don’t have the money at this time to give anybody," Commissioner Brode said, referring to $3.7 million the city hoped the county would contribute toward building a new library that would be run by a board representing both the county and the city.

Commissioner Ennis agreed the county’s financial situation is problematic, but said library service may suffer in the long run if the county does not participate in creating a new library. "I feel if we don’t go forward with it now, we’re going to miss a great opportunity," he said.

Tuesday’s decision could mean Dover will be on its own in building and operating a $23.5 million facility that will replace the existing Dover Public Library.

According to Dover officials, the city’s current library draws more than 1,000 visitors a day, about half of whom live outside the city.

A number of scenarios for county-city cooperation on library management were laid out in recent months by County Administrator Michael J. Petit de Mange and Dover City Manager Anthony J. DePrima. The most prominent called for closing the county library near Camden and forming an independent library commission that would run the new library.

Such a merger would result in annual savings for both the county and city, according to the two administrators’ calculations. The county could have used its savings to finance bonds to help pay for the new library’s construction.

But Commissioner Sweeney said library services in the county are "woefully inadequate" and this is no time to close the county library — despite the promise of more seating, more computers and many other advantages at the library Dover aims to build on city land on Loockerman Street between City Hall and the Dover post office.

Commissioner Brode said, "I get calls all the time: ‘Don’t close the library and don’t take the bookmobile away from us.’"

The fate of the county bookmobile under a regional operation is unknown.

Without county participation in the project, Dover could be forced to raise an additional $3.7 million, the amount it sought from the county for construction. The city also could find itself without county help in paying annual operating costs, estimated as $1.7 million — about $300,000 more than for Dover’s existing library.

Levy Court’s decision wasn’t entirely unexpected.

City Councilman Reuben Salters said during a meeting Monday that he had been in conversation with commissioners about the library. "They’re already reluctant. I can tell you that," he said.

Councilman Salters asked Mr. DePrima at the Monday meeting about the effect of Levy Court’s declining to participate. Mr. DePrima responded that a planned fund-raising drive would have to be "greater and longer, probably much longer."

Mr. DePrima said Tuesday that issuing bonds to finance construction also was a possibility.

The state has committed money to the project, and contributions from individuals, corporations and nonprofits also are to be sought. The city is to spend $3.7 million, as it hoped the county also would do.

Construction is to begin next year. The impact of the commissioner’s decision on the project schedule remains to be seen.

Besides voting against uniting with Dover in library services, the commissioners rejected two related proposals — to earmark $1 million for a new library and to work toward raising an additional $2.7 million for the project. Commissioners Eaby and Ennis were alone in voting for both those ideas; Commissioner Angel joined them in supporting the $1 million set-aside.

Commissioner Buckson, while favoring a regional concept, said he could not support the commitment of any money under current economic conditions.

None of Tuesday’s votes amounted to official decisions. The commissioners were not in a regular Levy Court meeting, but in a Community Services Committee session. The membership of Levy Court and the committee are identical.

Carey hopeful construction costs will be reasonable

Delaware State News

DOVER — Mayor Carleton E. Carey Sr. says the city could be in a position to save money on the construction of a new library while putting money into the pockets of the workers who would build it.

Dover, with financial aid from the state and possibly Kent County, plans to create the facility on East Loockerman Street between City Hall and the Dover post office. The tentative construction cost is $18.7 million.

"This is an ideal time to get the construction cost down," Mayor Carey said, referring to economic conditions that have produced a slump in the building industry and swollen the ranks of unemployed construction workers.

Even after adjusting for expected seasonal layoffs, joblessness in construction in Delaware has increased for five consecutive months, according to the state labor department. Nearly 4,000 fewer people were counted as employed in the field in March, the most recent month for which statistics are available, than during March 2008.

The official number of employed construction workers fell from 26,400 in March 2008 to 22,600 a year later.

"We need to get people to work," Mayor Carey said. And if the project goes as he envisions, "we save money, too."

His hopes ride partly on a fund-raising effort approved Monday by City Council. A private firm is to be paid $320,000 to generate $6 million from individuals, businesses and nonprofits. That campaign aims to ensure the city can meet a schedule that calls for soliciting construction bids early next year and finishing work by early 2012.

"Hopefully, it will move along OK," Mayor Carey said. "It depends on the financing."

The financial demands of the project are to be laid out during a City Council meeting Monday afternoon at City Hall. A discussion of the latest design of the 46,000-square-foot proposed library also is scheduled, as is a description of scenarios under which Dover and Kent County could economize by combining library services.

The meeting, set for 5:30 p.m., is open to the public.

The total project cost is projected as $23.5 million, with $1.9 million in architectural and engineering fees and $1.8 million for furniture and equipment being the most expensive items other than construction.

The result would be a library far bigger, more modern and better equipped than the existing Dover Public Library on South State Street.

The seating capacity for readers would grow from 94 to 176; meeting-room capacity, from 40 to 220; computers, from 28 to 78; and the collection of books and other items, from 132,000 to 160,000.

Perhaps most significantly for many library users, today’s 35 parking spaces would be replaced by a parking area to accommodate 187 motor vehicles.

The proposed library location next to City Hall "offers tremendous potential to establish a bustling civic environment where outdoor spaces cluster together to form an active urban experience," according to the text of the report to be presented Monday. New landscaping, paving, lighting and benches would support the "creation of an outdoor gathering place to promote a sense of community."

Entrance to the library would be through a "central lobby, enlivened by a café kiosk, casual furnishings, and a retail component. This area will serve as the primary orientation point for an open and accessible entrance into the traditional library services to the west and the 150-person multi-purpose room to the east," the report, prepared by project designer Holzman Moss Architecture of New York City, states.

The ground floor’s features would include:

•a "community den" with a working fireplace;

•an area in which small groups could watch movies;

•an 8,000-square-foot youth-services section.

On the second floor — accessible by elevator or a grand stairway — large windows would provide views of downtown Dover while skylights would illuminate seating areas within the stacks.

A loft would be devoted to teenagers. The report explains, "A full-height glass wall separates the loft from the traditional library areas on the second floor, combining the privacy of a distinct teen space with full visual accessibility, making for a lively space for the varieties of uses — from gaming to sleepovers — that the contemporary teen library user desires."

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