Assistant Library Director Gretchen Harden told a community meeting that Bee Cave’s library has outgrown its current facility and that city staff are asking voters to approve two ballot propositions in November to build a new, standalone library.

“With over 73,000 visitors last year, the answer is yes,” Harden said, summarizing the library’s recent demand for space and programs.

Harden and city staff said the proposed project would place a single-story, roughly 18,500-square-foot library on a portion of the Staggs Tract off Bee Cave Parkway. The plan, as presented, includes private reservable study rooms, a conference room, a dedicated multipurpose room, outdoor reading areas including a porch overlooking the hillside, increased collection space (about a 25–30% growth from the current collection) and a drive-up book return. The project cost shown to the public was $19,980,000.

Why it matters: library staff and the city said the current Galleria building constrains services and programming (including weekly story times) and that a new building would provide dedicated parking and a space not subject to competing uses such as elections. Harden said the current facility’s layout and limited storage and staff office space force operational compromises that a single-story building could resolve.

Key facts presented

- Attendance and programs: Harden said the library had “over 73,000 visitors last year” and more than 14,000 program attendees; staff run recurring children’s story times and larger seasonal events such as a summer reading program and the Books and Bees Festival.

- Size and collections: The current library holds about 30,000 volumes; the proposed building would allow a 25–30% increase in collection capacity, with emphasis on adult fiction and nonfiction.

- Cost and financing: The project estimate shown to the public is $19,980,000, described as covering construction, engineering, architecture, environmental work, AV and IT equipment. Harden said bonds to pay for the project could raise the property tax rate by up to 0.0148 and estimated that the maximum impact for an average Bee Cave property owner could be about $114 per year. The city plans to fund the project with a mix of sales tax and property tax; Harden said the city will revisit the funding split annually and that the stated tax increase is a maximum estimate.

- Ballot and timeline: Harden said there will be two propositions on the November ballot; early voting is scheduled to begin Oct. 20 and Election Day is Nov. 4. If approved, staff estimated construction could best-case finish in late 2027 but cautioned that a more likely completion window would be early 2028.

- Site, traffic and approvals: The proposed site sits on city-owned land (part of the Staggs Tract). Staff said they will complete a traffic impact analysis during site development that could recommend pedestrian links, signalization or lane changes; the city will account for nearby multifamily projects when doing the analysis. Staff indicated the city prefers multiple points of ingress and egress for safety and will coordinate with existing and planned nearby development.

- Operations and move: Harden said there may be a short closure during the physical move but that most libraries manage such transitions quickly. The city and library expect modest operational cost increases (Harden cited an illustrative $150,000 for insurance and HVAC on a new building) and said they plan to absorb those costs with current sales tax revenue rather than immediately expanding hours.

Community engagement and next steps

Harden described prior community outreach including vision boards and a survey that informed proposed features. City staff displayed preliminary architect renderings at the meeting and said they will post project timeline updates on the library’s web page. Staff also told attendees the city does not use public funds to advocate for or against the bond but will provide informational materials and take written comments.

Unresolved items and alternatives

Staff said if the bond proposals fail, the city will “go back to the drawing board” to explore alternative sites, configurations or service strategies; no specific contingency plan or timeline was presented. City staff also noted that earlier consultant reviews (circa 2014–2017) found renovating the existing Galleria space or converting City Hall to a single-level library would be cost-prohibitive and technically challenging.

Quotes and attributions in the article come from meeting participants listed in the speakers section below. No formal vote or council action was taken at the public presentation; the project requires subsequent approvals and voter authorization before construction may proceed.