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.