“If a city with a great Library is a great City - then a City's Great Community needs a Great Library”

Background - see the page provided by Sara O'Kelly on history of Bellevue Library - our community has a history of community involvement to insure our Library's needs. In the late 90's and in 2000, the Nashville community upgraded the main downtown library and the regional branches - for whatever reason, Bellevue , although on the original list for expansion, was excluded. Nashville's other major communities - Green Hills, Hermitage, Antioch, Bordeaux, Madison and SE Davidson County are all enjoying the community benefits of a regional library sized for their community needs. Bellevue is the busiest (by far!) library per square foot in the entire system. A recent community survey indicates our facility lacks adequate parking, has limited selection of books, CD's, videos, magazines & periodicals and computer terminals due to the inadequate size. In addition, the reading area is too small, there is inadequate community meeting space and inadequate work and shelf space for volunteers to use. In a follow-up survey conducted by Providence Associates Inc. for the Metro Public Library after the new libraries were opened (May 2002), Bellevue was identified as the #1 community still lacking in service. Other needs were identified for Goodlettsville & Watkins Park.    *** Important reference ***  The Nashville Public Library Board of Trustees has endorsed the need for these 3 community libraries in 2002. Councilman Charlie Tygard