Commentary: Williamsburg Plans Wonderful New Library for James City Residents
Williamsburg taxpayers asked to shoulder costs of new downtown library though most users don't live in the city
The Williamsburg Regional Library system reports that 67% of checkouts from the downtown Williamsburg Library building last year were by residents of James City County. Only about 25% of respondents to a recent survey about the new downtown library proposal were residents of Williamsburg. The vast majority of all respondents said the downtown library was their preferred location.
Despite this, James City leadership decided not to help build a replacement for the aging library in Williamsburg; ditto for York County. Instead, James City is planning to build their own new library just a few miles away as part of the new government center and York County may consider building a new library as well.
That decision by James City should have been a flashing red light for Williamsburg to hit the brakes on a new downtown library project. Instead, city leaders kept their foot on the gas, intent on pushing through their latest must have project. In this case, Williamsburg intends to build a roughly $25 million, 50,000 square foot library. That’s big enough to meet not only the needs of Williamsburg residents, but also users from James City County and York County, despite neither jurisdiction helping fund its construction.
Later this week, Williamsburg City Council will likely approve a million dollar payment to a building contractor, in part to determine a “guaranteed maximum price”. I’m guessing they’re not going to recommend spending less money. They recently dismissed the City’s push to reduce costs as unattainable given the current scale and scope of the project. So for now, no one knows how expensive the project will actually get. But Williamsburg likes nice things and the council has shown little desire to compromise on quality once they’ve made up their minds.
In fairness, it may have been difficult for some of Williamsburg’s leadership to slow this project down anyway. After all, two city council members and the city manager all served on a committee that unanimously recommended building a new library downtown. The city manager also serves on the library system’s Board of Trustees. So, it’s no surprise that they still think a new library is a great idea, and that it should be built as big as possible.
But now, if ever, the city should show some fiscal restraint. If only Williamsburg residents are considered, it’s clear that a much smaller library is suitable, and will be more affordable. As it is, Williamsburg’s plan to fund the construction of a new downtown library on its own puts an unfair burden on its residents by asking them to subsidize nearby jurisdictions looking for a free ride.
The writer used these sources:
Williamsburg Regional Library Building Survey - Executive Summary
Proposed Williamsburg Library Public Input Meetings in May 2025
Williamsburg Regional Library - Support for WRL Building Projects
Other ways to support the Williamsburg Independent:
Share this post!
George; please give me the opportunity to connect with you
I admit I am not great at email etc. my subject is display at Jamestown Island and a request for help info and networking for project Rock Landing Rd at Jamestown Rd. Phil 757 876 6050 polingphil.101@gmail.com Thanks