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Beaufort County eyes more than $200,000 in technology upgrades at Bluffton library

Posted: February 6, 2013 - 1:11am



 

Citing county-wide needs to update software and improve speed, Beaufort County library staff are preparing a package of technology upgrades valued at about $415,000, with half going to the Bluffton branch.

Although the exact figures and financing aren’t yet determined, staff will present a proposal to the County Council Finance Committee “as soon as possible” that includes new hardware as well as system upgrades at every branch except St. Helena, where a state-of-the-art facility opened last October, said Wlodek Zaryczny, director of county libraries.

“The idea is to move the libraries forward with regards to technology and to model what we have at the St. Helena branch, which has the most current available,” he said.

That includes system-wide software upgrades to improve compatibility; a new, centralized server to improve network speed and better maintain uniformity with software availability; and various additions that depend on the branch’s need, Zaryczny said.

At Bluffton that will mean a Mac production lab consisting of about six computers with access to movie-making, digital photography, design and publishing software, Zaryczny said. The approximately $200,000 the county would sink into the Bluffton branch would also cover renovation, electrical and infrastructure needs.

The St. Helena branch has a similar lab already with a full-time staffer anticipated soon, but the library system wanted to place another south of the Broad River in the area of greatest growth potential, Zaryczny said.

“If you take a look at Pew reports (on library trends), just in general, libraries are moving more and more into electronic access and content development,” he added.

The hope is to partner with the school district as well as area colleges to help on the training front to promote career development and new interests, Zaryczny said.

Paying for the package of upgrades will take fees from new development within the various municipalities called “impact fees,” which can’t be used outside their area of collection, said David Starkey, the county’s finance director.

Bluffton has about $200,000 available from Sun City developer Del Webb, but cost estimates haven’t been finalized and other municipalities aren’t as fortunate, Starkey added.

“Once we get those estimates we can further determine at that point what we can and can’t do or if another source of funding is needed, but at least we’ve got some funding to work with those library systems,” he said.

The city of Beaufort, for instance, does not collect library impact fees, leading County Administrator Gary Kubic to direct finance staff to run calculations approximating what the city would have collected based on the number of building permits it has issued.

“It could lead to the city of Beaufort rethinking whether or not it wants to impose a library impact fee or some other sort of contribution,” Kubic said, adding he advised staff against delaying upgrades at other branches if funding is uncertain at another.

At this point, the city has about $6,700 available for technology upgrades from a library trust fund, Starkey said.

Any proposal will require County Council approval.

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