If you've felt a bit cramped in the Peachtree City Library lately, it's not the library's fault. They've simply got more books, tapes and customers than they have space.

But plans are in the works that could address that problem, while greatly improving the library's myriad services, especially where children are concerned.

The staff is now fine-tuning its master plan for presentation to the City Council at the annual retreat in April. It was approved last week by the Library Commission.

Included in the plan is an ambitious expansion program that includes an increase in facilities as well as personnel.

The library staff has recommended that the building itself be expanded 10,000 square feet — 5,000 on each floor — behind the existing children's section, to make room for a separate new children's wing complete with soundproof doors. That space would include a theatre/activity center.

If the plan is not found to be structurally possible, then the next recommendation is to expand 5,000 square feet. The theatre/activity center would eliminated in that case.

Extensive surveys and studies have been conducted, and the library staff has concluded that there is a great need in the area of children's services that is not being adequately addressed due to lack of space and personnel.

Another recommendation is the addition of a full-time professional youth services librarian during the 2001 fiscal year. The library does not currently have the luxury of allotting a single staff member solely to coordinate children's programs and keep the children's book collection up to date, and library officials say the time has come to fill that gap.

The addition of a clerical assistant is planned for the 2002 fiscal year. That is expected to be a big help with the huge increase in phone volume, as patrons can now easily renew books and schedule meeting rooms by phone.

The first nine months of 1999 saw an average of 828 phone renewals per month, with meeting rooms booked 71 times per month. Those numbers are expected to continue rising with the recent implementation of computerized PINES (Public Information Network for Electronic Services) cards for all patrons.

More than 5,000 PINES cards are now in circulation, and about 500 are still being processed. Nearly all of the books have been refitted for the new system, although a few shelves remain taped off and unavailable.

“It's tedious,” leisure services director Randy Gaddo said of the cataloguing process, noting that the library was closed for an entire week in November so that most of the work could be done.

Another area that is changing due to the PINES cards is the volume of usage by out-of-city and out-of-county residents. Residents of Coweta County and other areas have previously paid $20 per year for the privilege of using the library, but PINES cards are available free of charge to all Georgia residents.

Of the library's 5,127 total registered users, 3,462 are Fayette County residents, and 3,063 are from Peachtree City. It is perhaps appropriate that more than 90 percent of the patrons from within the county are in the city, since the library receives no county funding.

That leaves nearly 40 percent (2,064) of the users coming from outside the city, with 1,665 that do not live in Fayette County.

Most of the state's libraries participate in the new system, so the PINES card is good all over the place. But a notable exception for Peachtree City library patrons is the Troup-Harris-Coweta region, which decided to use its own system late last fall as other systems were making the switch.

Classes offering general PINES training to the general public are consistently booked solid, technology director Jill Kuhns said. The other computer classes are still in great demand as well, with 150 senior citizens now on the waiting list.

The library plans to upgrade its personal computers systematically through the next five years of the master plan. Other significant expenditures include the a core CD music collection in FY 2004, with two portable CD players & headphones, at a cost of $1,500.

Along with the ongoing technological advances, the library plans to keep its staff certified whenever necessary, and funds will be set aside for that as well.

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