Consultants present $109M roadmap to expand downtown Georgetown library; council questions timing and staffing costs

Consultants working with the Georgetown Public Library and a city steering committee presented a draft long-range plan that recommends expanding the downtown library, increasing hold-locker and outreach services, adding staffing and considering micro-branches before building new full-service branch libraries.

Sally (library staff) introduced Doug Moss and Lisonbee Kritz of Steinberg Hart, the consultant team, who described a three-part analysis: community and user input, peer benchmarking and architectural recommendations.

Consultants said public feedback favors maintaining a single primary downtown facility while expanding services. Their recommendations included expanding and renovating the existing downtown building; enlarging digital and physical collections; deploying hold lockers and errand services (book pick-up/drop-off) at city-owned sites such as the Carver Center and Sun City; piloting pop-up libraries and micro-branches in leased spaces; and adding staff and courier vehicles to support outreach.

Doug Moss told the council that the library’s current staff levels “are dramatically below what we have seen in most libraries of this size,” and that many short-term recommendations — additional hold lockers, courier service, pop-ups and outreach — would require new recurring staffing costs even if capital outlays are modest.

For capital planning, the consultant presented order-of-magnitude costs in today’s dollars, including a near-term package of outreach and lockers and a long-term expansion alternative that would remove the building’s west wing and add a new four-story wing (one below grade) to add roughly 30,000 square feet. The consultant said the full set of improvements could total about $110 million in current dollars and that the estimate includes contingency and a 4.6% annual escalation assumption to account for cost growth.

Council members responded with a range of reactions. Several members supported near-term, lower-cost steps such as additional hold lockers, pop-up libraries and courier services and urged piloting micro-branches in developer or leased spaces. Others questioned the timing and affordability given competing capital priorities — particularly the city’s road program and other planned capital projects — and noted limited debt capacity in the immediate four-year window. One council member said the city’s priority needs remain roads and public safety and expressed skepticism that a full renovation and expansion could be financed in the proposed 4–7 year window.

Members asked about alternatives to the consultant’s preferred four-story-plus-basement option, including phased vertical expansion within downtown height limits. The consultant said a full four-story expansion with a below-grade level addresses structural load needs and program requirements; removing the underground level would reduce capacity but is an option the team can analyze further. Council members also asked about use of parkland or parkland dedication to site future branch facilities; staff said they would research legal constraints on using parkland for library buildings.

Staff and council members pressed the consultants to provide clearer phasing options and to explore micro-branch pilots and partnerships with developers or nonprofits as lower-cost ways of increasing service area coverage, especially on the West Side and for older residents. The consultant reiterated that hold lockers and pop-up programs are a lower-capital, near-term approach but require staffing and recurring operating funding.

Ending: Council members generally supported piloting hold lockers, exploring micro-branch partnerships and returning with more detailed phasing and cost scenarios. Several members requested additional analysis on funding options, operational costs, and the timing of a major downtown expansion in light of other capital demands.