Nashville Library System Aims For Big Changes

NASHVILLE, TN — Metro's library system is aiming for most ambitious period of growth and renovation in two decades.

A plan approve by the library's board in December calls for eight new library branches and renovations to six others by 2040. Six of the city's 21 libraries are 50 years old or older and another six are 20 years or older. The city went through a spate of library growth immediately following the consolidation of the city and county governments as part of Metroization in mid-1960s, leaving a glut of libraries coming to the end of their effective lifespans simultaneously.

The library board's goal is to have 90 percent of Metro's population within a 15-minute drive of a branch library and has identified eight locations in need of a branch. In addition to a new branch at Cayce Homes as part of the Envision Cayce project, other sites are: Smith Springs in South Nashville, Charlotte Pike and Hillwood in West Nashville, Joelton and Whites Creek, Talbot's Corner, the Seven Oaks area near Murfreesboro Pike and Briley Parkway; Nolensville Pike and Harding Place in South Nashville, and Crieve Hall.

The Tennessean reports that properties have been identified for branches in some cases, but in others, Metro is struggling to identify the four acres or so needed.

The libraries slated for replacement or renovation, many of which are small for modern standards, have environmental concerns or lack the ability to offer modern amenities like sufficient computers are: Donelson, Richland Park, Hadley Park, Thompson Lane, Inglewood , Edgehill, and Watkins Park. The Tennessean notes that the North and East branch libraries, both part of the original Carnegie system, are not slated for replacement as they are historically protected. The North library, at 10th and Monroe, opened in 1915, while the East branch at Gallatin and Forrest, opened in 1919.

The funding necessary to execute the entire master plan is unclear.

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