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Wakulla County library staff report rising use; public commenter urges larger new building
Summary
Library director reported increased visits and program participation and previewed a rendering of the new library; public commenter Andrew Riddle told commissioners the planned new building is about 14,000 sq. ft. and urged pursuing a larger facility to meet state-recommended space per resident.
At the Wakulla County meeting Linda Oakes, identified in the agenda as the library lead, gave an annual services overview and previewed the new library rendering, while a public commenter asked commissioners to pursue a larger final building.
Oakes said the library installed RFID gates this year to better track items and visits and reported that from September 2024 through the current reporting period "51,961 citizens actually walked through the library door." She said the library added $20,615 worth of materials to its collection and estimated the collection value at about $887,726; the library serves a reported 13,259 registered patrons and has expanded programs including book groups, teen manga clubs, LEGO robotics and mommy-and-me yoga. Oakes said staff are planning new classes geared to the new facility and have added mobile printing and self-checkout features.
During public comment, Andrew Riddle thanked the board and noted the new library groundbreaking scheduled for the 17th at 10 a.m., but he urged continued advocacy for a larger building. "The new library will basically be roughly the same size as the old library ... puts it at about 14,000 square feet," Riddle said, and he said "state standards and state recommendations [call for] 1 square foot of library for every citizen in the county," which he said would imply a much larger target of roughly 35,000 square feet for Wakulla County. He said he will continue to press the case publicly and encouraged greater citizen participation in county meetings.
County staff confirmed the groundbreaking time and location and thanked library staff and volunteers for outreach efforts. No formal action was taken; the report and the public comment were accepted as informational.
