Chapel Hill 2020’s open house welcomes new library, requests feeback

Chapel Hill residents will welcome a temporary public library spot and offer feedback on goals to guide the town’s future on Saturday at Chapel Hill 2020’s open house.

The event will take place at University Mall and will also include children’s activities.

Chapel Hill 2020 is a community project that aims to create a plan for the town’s development for the next 10 years.

Rosemary Waldorf, plan co-chairwoman, said the project’s mission draft will be written down and displayed for the community to view at the event. The event will also give residents a chance to give input on the themes the plan will focus on.

Those themes address ideas like town and University relationships, regional relationships, transportation, resident engagement, downtown development and cultural and artistic vibrancy.

Waldorf said community feedback will shape the plan’s ultimate goals.

“It’s an opportunity for everyone to vote and make comment,” Waldorf said. “We’re not targeting anyone in particular.”

Attendees will have the opportunity to review the mission draft and to take a survey that will be considered during the draft’s development.

The children’s activities will include storytelling and an art project with a focus on sustainability.

The Traveling Teacher Show will also perform at the event. The two-woman duo based in Raleigh will present an interactive, educational show aimed at making children think about conservation and the future of Chapel Hill in an environmental sense.

“We put it simply into their minds how the future will look green,” said Melissa Stewart, one of the show’s co-creators.

The Chapel Hill Fire Department will also present at the open house. The department will perform “Johnnie Joins the Fire Department,” a puppet show that stresses the importance of fire safety and prevention, said Fire Marshal Matt Lawrence.

“October is a good time to focus on it because last week was National Fire Prevention (Week),” Lawrence said.

The ribbon cutting for the temporary location of the Chapel Hill Library will kick off the day at 11 a.m.

The library will be located next to Cameron’s and near the Dillard’s department store while its site undergoes renovations.

Mary Boone, former Chapel Hill library director and state librarian of North Carolina, Jim Ward, mayor pro tem for the town, and Kathleen Thompson, Chapel Hill Public Library director, will officiate the ribbon cutting.

The temporary location will feature self check-out and a self pickup program for reserved books — both new capabilities.

The temporary location will not support public meeting spaces.

The expanded library will open January 2013 and will be more than 60,000 square feet, more than twice its previous size.

The renovations are expected to cost $16 million.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.