Construction Delay Almost Doubles the Cost of the Mildred Terry Library

MUSGOGEE COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD DIPS INTO RESERVES TO FINISH MILDRED TERRY CONSTRUCTION 

Delaying construction of the new Mildred Terry Library, which opens on June 2nd,  was quite costly, something that voters may think about when it comes time to vote on the new Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for the school system.   Dr. Philip Schley says the new SPLOST will avoid those costly delays for new projects by selling bonds this time.  Projects  listed in the 2003 SPLOST  took so long to complete  because  money could not be spent until taxes were collected.  There will be no need to wait this time since bond money can be spent all at one time.  The bonds will be paid off as taxes are collected. “Hopefully,” he says, “the interest paid will be less than the cost of delaying construction.”  That depends on the economy.  If there is inflation, money is saved by not delaying construction,  but if there is deflation,  waiting would save money.  As is said, timing is everything.

Mildred Terry, the downtown branch of the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries system, has a proud history – opening in 1953 as the Fourth Avenue Library,  it was the first public library for blacks in Columbus, because they were not allowed to use the Columbus Public Library – and every library friend that I know supports the new and improved facility, but it really didn’t have to cost $4.7 million dollars.  It could have been  built, some believe,  for the $ 2.5 million provided for in the SPLOST  had it been built in 2003, the year the SPLOST was approved,  and the Library Board would not have had to resort to using reserve funds to finish the project.

Ft. Benning soldiers, volunteers from the 39th AG, move a piano from the old Mildred Terry Library to the new Mildred Terry Library, Columbus, Georgia

 
 Dr. Philip Schley, chairman of the Muscogee County School Board,  to which the library board must answer, explained that the Mildred Terry was “pretty far down the priority list.  Critical needs had to be met first.  While the new Mildred Terry Library is larger and nicer,  the old building served the public well so that need was not considered critical.”

Kelly Pridgen, chair of the library board,  said the situation really isn’t as bad as it sounds.  Yes,  the library board has to spend part of the library’s reserves to complete Mildred Terry, but, she added,  “That’s what reserves are for.”   And, yes, next year’s budget will be trimmed, with $100,000 budgeted for book purchases being cut, but that doesn’t mean books won’t be purchased.  Last year’s book budget will remain in place.  The $100,000 would have been an increase.  She says private funds will, hopefully, replinishthe reserve fund.

Friends of the Lbraries Book Store, Columbus Public Library, Columbus, GA

 I am unabashedly a supporter of the library system.  I’m on the Friends of the Libraries board, and I work in the book store at the Columbus Public Library.  I am a friend of the library because the library is my friend.  A library card makes a world of information, entertainment, and art available for everyone, and it’s all free. As Claudya Muller,  executive director of the Chattahoochee Valley Regional Libraries, says, “The library empowers people to achieve their goals in life,  and it is for everyone.  A library will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no library.” 
 
Because of the recession, the library is getting a lot more use.  And since we are on the subject of economics,  the quality of a public library is one of the first things that industries seeking to locate in a community check out. Thanks to community leaders who know the value of a library, we have one of the best in the state.

 

Tags: Books, Chattahoochee Valley Library System, Columbus Public Library, Friends of the LIbraries, Friends of the Libraries Book Store, libraries, Mildred Terry Branch