Southside Library branch set to reopen

ALBANY — Dougherty County Library Board Chairman Walter Kelley said closing two of the county library system’s five branches in June of 2012 was one of the most difficult decisions the board had ever faced.

But now, on the verge of the second of those two branches reopening “better than ever,” Kelley and Library System Director Pauline Abidde admit that the closings may have been a blessing in disguise.

“(The closings) were a wake-up call; that made a lot of us — and a lot of people in the community — realize that we were taking our libraries for granted,” Abidde said after the Library Board’s monthly meeting Monday evening. “But (keeping the closings in mind) forced us to focus on making the library system better.”

The Southside branch, closed along with the Westtown branch, will reopen Feb. 25, a “soft opening” that will see the branch open for its typical hours of operation, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Two days later, to much greater fanfare, the Southside branch will hold its grand reopening, an event that will kick off at 10 a.m. and continue to 3 p.m.

“Frankly, we’re better than ever,” Kelley said. “One of the main reasons we had to close the two branches before was under-utilization. But we didn’t have what our patrons really needed at Westtown, Southside or at the Tallulah Massey branch. We didn’t have the computers, the digital resources, the wireless access that our patrons needed.

“Closing those two branches was difficult, but looking back on it, that might have happened anyway even if the board hadn’t taken action. We’d had to adjust to decreased (budget) allotments for years, and we’d shortened hours, decreased the amount of materials we offered, made no new hires and left unfilled positions vacant. We’d cut all we could cut.”

The ultimate decision to close the two branches came as a shock to the Dougherty County Commission, and that body eventually named one of its members (District 2 Commissioner John Hayes) to the seven-member Library Board.

If nothing else, that move improved communications between the two bodies.

“One of the other important things that came (from the closings) is that we have been able to repair and rehabilitate our relationship with the County Commission,” Kelley said. “There is a new level of communication now.”

And so library officials are spreading the word about the planned reopening of the Southside branch at 2114 Habersham Road.

“There’s a lot of excitement already,” Assistant Library Director Wanda Brown said during Monday’s meeting. “People are already coming by.”

Saturday’s grand opening will feature a number of activities, including a session with “mad scientist” Doc Atoms and “Seuss Time,” games, crafts and activities inspired by Dr. Seuss. Patrons can also enjoy free popcorn, but Abidde notes, “We’ll ask them to pick up their popcorn on their way out so we don’t have any messes.”

In her director’s report to the board at Monday’s meeting, Abidde pointed out that the system is still operating $132,801 under budget, that expenses are $46,294 below budget and that overall usage systemwide is up by 17.79 percent over the past year.