WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg Regional Library held a Public Information Session on Feb. 4 regarding the WRL build project and what’s ahead for both the city and expanding access through a new facility at the James City County Government Center.
The Williamsburg Library was originally built in 1973 and expanded in 1982 and 1998. WRL now reports the building has reached the end of its functional life span. Currently, the City of Williamsburg is discussing the reality of building a new library in the same location. As it stands, the project has not been approved; however, at its December meeting, City Council approved phase 2 of the development plan.
Phase 2 of the project involves standard design work to develop 35% complete construction drawings, which will enable Hourigan Construction to provide a guaranteed maximum price for the building. Hourigan’s initial submission proposed a concept plan valued at $26.1 million. The city is required to provide a notice to proceed to Phase 2, and moving forward was recommended by staff.
James City County has already approved additional library space with the recent decision to explore integrating a library into the new Government Center. WRL notes that the additional library space has been incorporated into the county’s Capital Improvement Plan since 2017.
The library said that space limitations have been constraining the library’s ability to grow alongside the population. This has led the library to fall below the state standard of one square foot per capita.
“Public libraries matter because they reflect what a community chooses to invest in access to information, shared spaces, and opportunities for human connection and learning,” said Sandy Towers, the WRL Director.
In 2007, the WRL Board of Trustees commissioned an independent building consultant to conduct a space needs/facilities study. The study recommended constructing a third library in James City County, but the project was postponed due to the economic downturn. WRL renewed the CIP request in 2017.
WRL shared the following usage statistics for Fiscal 2024:
- Circulation: 1,095,969
- Visitors: 539,795
- Program Attendance: 101,244
- Computer and Wi-Fi Use: 430,758
WRL highlighted that the benefit of having a regional library system is the financial efficiencies, increased state aid and funding from the Friends of the Williamsburg Regional Library Foundation.
Currently, WRL is still gathering community input on both building projects. Two sessions were held in May and July of last year, where roughly 370 community members attended between the two sessions, and 1,180 survey responses were also collected between these two input sessions.
In total, over 90 people attended Wednesday’s presentation. Afterwards, members of the community were invited to ask the director and other members of the library staff questions about the project. The next step for the project will see WRL continuing to work with localities to address space needs and advocate for the replacement of the Williamsburg Library and the construction of a third library in James City County.
For more information, please visit the official WRL page.
