Gaithersburg Library Hinges on Referendum Vote

Montgomery County officials are closer to establishing a temporary library location in Gaithersburg, but still have one more hurdle to jump through before plans for the site move forward.

The community has been without a library since the Gaithersburg Library at 18330 Montgomery Village Ave. closed its doors for renovations on May 15.

A lease for a 3,000-square-foot temporary location on the second floor of Lakeforest Mall was finalized in August and is set to open in late November. The site will house around 25,000 items, as well as a full catalog and database use.

But whether or not the site opens could depend on what happens on Election Day, Nov. 2.

Voters must pass a referendum on ambulance fees before construction on the interim library spot can begin, according to Rita Gale, the public service administrator for the county's libraries.

If voters shoot down the proposal, nixing the location is one of many cost-saving measures County Executive Isiah Leggett has suggested to cover the loss in revenue.

The $139,240 the county stands to save is included on a list of cuts and reductions Leggett (D) proposed last week totaling $14 million.

Revenue from the ambulance fee is included in the fiscal 2011 budget, which started July 1.

"There are a lot of residents who are anxiously waiting for a facility close to where they live and work," said Gale, who added that the county hopes to have permits for the Lakeforest site approved by the end of this week. "We share the community's eagerness to have an interim location available."

While the Lakeforest location would restore basic library services to Gaithersburg for the first time in nearly six months, it will not provide any Internet or computer access for residents.

Ari Brooks, executive director of the Friends of the Library, Montgomery County, said the lack of Internet access is a "great downside" to what the interim site would offer.

"A lot of what happened at the Gaithersburg branch was PC use for homework, online searches, and resumes," Brooks said. "It's unfortunate [the community] still won't be able to have access to computers."

Brooks did maintain that, regardless of how advanced the services provided, she's glad that Gaithersburg will likely have some sort of library available again.

"Anytime a library goes up, I get excited," she said. "Not having a library nearby has greatly affected the community. Gaithersburg Library was one of the busiest libraries in the system."

Brooks added that nearby branches in Quince Orchard and Germantown have seen a dramatic increase in traffic since the Gaithersburg location shut down, as they were the only two locations in the county to increase their hours since June.

Aspen Hill Library Manager Linda Gimourginas, who worked at the Gaithersburg Library for the past 15 years, said she has seen a lot of former regulars at her new location.

"I'm sure the residents miss the library greatly," said Gimourginas, who was the manager in Gaithersburg for two years before it shut down. "They had a lot of virtual services there and it was truly a community gathering space."

The county is working on a $26 million renovation project for the main Gaithersburg Library. The plans involve adding over 25,000-square-feet to the existing site, including a new 7,925-square-foot second floor. The addition will boast two meeting rooms with a combined 495-person capacity and a satellite office for the Gilchrist Center, which will provide citizenship classes, legal counseling, and other social services for immigrants. The lower level will incorporate 40 Internet-accessible PCs, including a 12-unit computer lab.

"There's a lot of excitement about it," Brooks said. "Everyone meets in the library and now the community will have a facility to meet its needs."