Wicomico Co. Public Libraries eyes location change for Pittsville branch
PITTSVILLE, Md. – For 23 years, the Pittsville branch of Wicomico County Public Libraries (WCPL) has been relegated to a trailer. But, that could soon change, as it might be moving to a permanent, new home.
Home Hunting
“For about a year, we’ve been looking at lots of facilities. But, we just hadn’t found anything commercial facility-wise that’s suitable at all for us. Nothing has opened up. So, we had to give this place some serious consideration when we realized there was a commercial property available in Parsonsburg,” said WCPL Executive Director Seth Hershberger.
Tuesday, Wicomico County Council will consider whether to allow $395,000 for the branch to move to a building in Parsonsburg.
“It’s three miles away from our current location, and is an existing facility that’s currently being used as a commercial property. It has close to 3,000 square feet. So, it’s quite a bit more space than we have now, and it’s enough to meet all of our needs,” said Hershberger. “When the board and I found this location, we realized it was really ideal to be a permanent solution for the location of the library, serving the Eastern part of Wicomico County.”
Growing Out
Hershberger says since 1999, workers at the Pittsville location have been dealing with numerous issues that interfere with patron service.
“It’s really crowded. There’s just over 1,000 square feet in there. So, there’s no space for things like programming, story times for children, book clubs, or people that just want to go and spend time at the library. There’s really not enough space for that, and there’s not enough space for parking either,” said Hershberger. “In addition to serving Pittsville, we have a mobile fleet that we need to park somewhere. We have our eye on that location as a place where we could move our mobile services unit, and park it in the garages and warehouses there.”
Future Opportunities
On top of much needed space, Hershberger says moving to Parsonsburg could increase funding opportunities for the library.
“Once we have it, one of the greatest things about it is since we would own the facility, we would have access to state capital funds, as well as county capital funds to do major improvements,” said Hershberger. “The state of Maryland distributes over $7 million every year just for libraries.”
If the funding and move are approved, Hershberger says the new location could open up in a year or two.
“There are some renovations that would be needed at the new location,” said Hershberger. “Of course, we’re required to open it up so that it’s good for a library.”
