by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
A $100,000 library fundraiser is back on schedule after the City found a home Wednesday for thousands of donated books.
Susie Wiles, the City’s chief of special initiatives and communications, said the Jacksonville Friends of the Library would be offered the use of the Craig Field Armory in preparation for their Great Annual Book Sale. The sale recycles donated books — the majority of them from City libraries — and re-invests the profits into the libraries. Wiles said the group could use the armory to store and sort through the books.
The book sale was put in limbo when plans to move the books into the future site of the University Park Branch Library were put on hold. Friends president Jeanine Peterson said Tuesday that unless timely storage could be found, the book sale would have to be canceled. Peterson said Wednesday that the armory’s availability put the sale back on schedule.
Mayor’s office spokesperson Heather Murphy said Mayor John Peyton took note of the Friends’ urgency in making the armory available.
“This was something where the Friends of the Library had a very immediate need,” said Murphy.
Wiles called it “an acute situation that the mayor was happy to solve.”
The Friends planned to move Sept.1, from a building owned by the School Board to the branch library site . However, Peterson said she was told Aug. 21 that insurance and liability complications had scuttled the deal. Peterson said she has been scrambling since to find suitable storage. The books — 45 pallets covering 1,600 square feet — have been sitting in a darkened corner of the School Board building.
The City took control of the armory after the Florida National Guard vacated. Wiles said several City departments, including the sheriff’s office and Streets and Drainage — had been vying for the armory’s use. It was the compatibility of the Friends’ mission with Peyton’s own priorities, Wiles said, that landed the armory.
“It was a question of priorities,” said Wiles. “Of course literacy is a huge priority of this administration; it’s a priority shared by the Friends of the Library.”
Peterson said the armory should suit the Friends’ needs. To accommodate an anticipated 80 pallets of books and volunteers to sort them, the group needed 5-to-10,000 square feet of space, air conditioning and ample lighting.
Wiles said the armory would be available to the group at least through the March 4 book sale. Following the sale, Murphy said the City would seek to relocate the Friends to the University Park location as originally planned.