After 16-year wait, County library system secures state funds to replace Oglethorpe Mall branch

Live Oak Public Libraries (LOPL) had secured $5 million from a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) back in 2008 to replace the ADA non-compliant Oglethorpe Mall branch. For the last 16 years, those funds have been awaiting a match from the state so that the project would be what LOPL Executive Director Lola Shelton-Council called "shovel ready."

Thanks to Georgia Senator Derek Mallow's advocacy (along with the entire Chatham County legislative delegation), Georgia's Fiscal Year 2024 amended budget that passed on Feb. 29, included $3 million for the Oglethorpe Mall replacement project.

So why the long wait?

Shelton-Council said, "My impression is that once [our request] got to Atlanta our Savannah story hadn't been strong enough for the... [state] appropriations committee." She suspected that LOPL's frequent leadership changes affected its ability to make an effective and consistent case for the funds. In November 2022, she became the fifth executive director of LOPL since 2016 when she took over after David Singleton retired from the position.

Mallow considered another potential reason for the delay. He said that while the Chatham delegation has long lobbied for representation in the state budget, fellow legislators would ask, in his words, "What do we need to invest down there for?" As to why now, Mallow offered a key factor: economic development. He cited growth at the ports and increased enrollment at local colleges and universities as well as population surges as drawing Atlanta's attention to the southeastern part of the state along Interstate-16.

So, in a word: Hyundai.

"A functional library affects your quality of life," he said. His thinking is that if the state has given $1.5 billion in economic development incentives to bring a car manufacturer to the area, then good policy would be to provide community resources that support such an investment. "If you don't have a library to inspire children and older Georgians to ignite a passion for reading, literacy and education, then there will not be an educated workforce."

Outdated and non-compliant

LOPL's Oglethorpe Mall branch has not been renovated since it was completed in 1978 and thus is non-compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The building's only elevator has become unreliable and cannot be repaired because the parts it needs are no longer manufactured. The adult section of the library is on the second floor. Anyone with mobility issues would be unable to access valuable resources.

Issues with the air conditioner forced the Oglethorpe branch to shut down for a month and a half last summer because it was just too hot to accommodate patrons. In the winter months it can get too cold.

"We had to buy a new unit," said Shelton-Council, an unaccounted for expense.

Deputy Library Director Jennifer Baxter said, "The plan was to get a new building so long ago that the it just wasn't in the plan to spend that kind money on an HVAC system." The alternative of shutting the building down at the whims of the weather became unacceptable.

These issues are only a few of the many that LOPL had listed since 2008. Other concerns included minimal natural lighting, lack of meeting and study rooms as well as outdated electrical and plumbing infrastructure. Shelton-Council also spoke about how the small children's space makes it difficult to plan varied activities.

"And there's no space for the staff to kind of work on projects behind the scenes," she added.

Despite all the challenges, the branch still manages to offer more than 57,000 circulation items and service a population of approximately 65,000 residents. The whole LOPL system served nearly 1 million visitors in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since COVID restrictions were fully lifted in March 2022, LOPL has seen a steady climb in visitors with more than 625,000 in 2023, LOPL's first year back to being fully open.

A champion emerged to share a stronger Savannah story

According to Shelton-Council, the Savannah-area library system found its greatest funding champion in Mallow.

Mallow acquired his first library card when his Head Start program took him to the Hitch Village branch in Savannah. He also recalled how his aunt had given him the first few books of the Harry Potter series. As the series progressed and page lengths ballooned, the books became more expensive ― so expensive that his family could not afford to buy them.

"And it was the library that had a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'" he said as he choked back tears. "That's how important the library is."

He said he first heard about LOPL's funding needs for the Oglethorpe branch about three years ago when he was still in the state house of representatives. At that time, Chatham County Manager Michael Kaigler and his team had purchased a site for the proposed 24,000-square-foot library on Eisenhower Drive. Rather than focus on all that the current building lacked, Mallow framed the need for a new library as integral to the community, especially given its future location.

Aside from being within the Eisenhower Square shopping plaza, the new site is surrounded by many community touchpoints such as Chatham Area Transit bus stops, the National Guard Armory, Savannah's Department of Driver Services office and the Chatham County Voter Registration office. The Chatham County Health Department is just down the road as is a U.S. Post Office. Many medical offices and an urgent care are located just across the intersection at Waters Avenue. Also, the Oglethorpe Mall is less than two miles from the new site.

Mallow took his 10-minute pitch to Blake Tillery, chair of the senate appropriations committee; Tom Taylor, the Marine Forces Special Operations Command chairman; and Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones during the latest state legislative session. During the pitch Mallow also noted that Savannah's EmployabilityGA office is just across Eisenhower Drive. With the National Guard Armory and Hunter Army Airfield also in close proximity, Mallow highlighted the accessibility for members of the military and their families. "The lieutenant governor was all in...he's a strong supporter for veterans and of folks with disabilities," said Mallow. "When that happened, it was a game changer."

What happens now?

With $8.5 million in state and local funds ready for use, Shelton-Council said the next step is to meet with Chatham County officials to start mapping out the design-build process.

"We do have a concept design that [architecture firm] GMShay created for the library a couple of years ago," she said. The library will seek feedback from its leadership team as well as from employees who will staff the new facility. "And then, we'll take that to the board to get their input, as well."

The design LOPL presented to the Chatham County delegates in December is similar to the Southwest Chatham, Islands and Garden City branch designs, which were all done by GMShay. Of those branches, Islands and Garden City were the most recently completed in 2014. Those facilities are single-floor units, which will be the case for the new branch. Single-floor design plans provide improved accessibility and security. LOPL's Hinesville branch opened in 2016 making it the system's most recently completed project, but it was designed by another firm.

People in the community can sign-up for a LOPL mailing list for updates on the project.

The fact that any funding for the library came about at all is notable. Mallow gives credit to Sen. Billy Hickman, Tillery and Jones for listening to him and backing what became a bipartisan effort. "As a Democratic state senator in a Republican majority, they didn't have to listen to me," he said. The state senate also passing SB 390 on Feb. 29 makes the LOPL funding all the more astounding.

Currently under review by the Georgia House, SB 390 would "prohibit the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and city, county, and regional public library trustees from using any taxpayer or privately donated funds, with limited exception, on any materials, services, or operations offered by the American Library Association (ALA) or any of its affiliates." LOPL is not a member of the ALA but its leaders had concerns about previous versions of the bill that sought to remove certification and continuing education requirements for librarians.

The proposed bill had 24 cosponsors and passed with a 33-to-20 vote. Mallow voted against it.

Mallow said, "I think there was issue with the president of the ALA." He stated that if political leaders take issues with the person in charge of a national organization, they should lobby to have that person replaced. "It doesn't mean you go and change all the rules related to libraries and their certifications and then try to attack certain funding. That's not how democracy works," he said.

The state House has had a second read of the bill as of March 5, but a vote is yet to be held.

Meanwhile, LOPL still needs to secure funding to replace the 6,800-square-foot Pooler branch at 216 S. Rogers St., which was built in 1982. LOPL's Pooler proposal calls for a 20,000-square-foot facility at a estimated cost of $7.6 million.

As far as waiting another 16 years for funding for that project, Shelton-Council said, "We're going to still advocate to get that $2 million that we've requested on the capital outlay from state appropriations, but I don't believe the lack of that money is going to prohibit that library from being built."

When asked why, she responded, "That's how committed [Pooler's] mayor [Karen Williams] and her administration are to getting that getting that done."

Beyond facilities, LOPL leaders are in the process of finalizing its first official and comprehensive strategic plan since...you may have guessed...2008.

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah’s library system gets crucial funding to build new branch