Traditional library service patterns have also differed in urban and suburban communities. The urban model of library service assumes pedestrian activity, access to public transit, branches less than two miles apart, less concern for parking, and branches interior to the neighborhoods they serve, not necessarily on major thoroughfares. The urban model assumes more but smaller branches, serving smaller communities. The suburban model of library service assumes that readers will travel to the library in private cars. Suburban libraries are characterized by fewer, larger libraries, bigger parking lots, and libraries built on major thoroughfares or in shopping centers.
Service is often less connected to the immediate neighborhood.
The suburban model is very efficient because it relies on residents to transport themselves and their children to the library. Each model works in the right setting. The problems arise when a suburban model is applied to an urban area, or vice versa. The challenge for the Louisville Free Public Library is to serve a mixed population of urban and suburban dwellers by developing the proper hybrid of urban and suburban library service. The Commission recommends the branch library system be developed to provide a network of strong neighborhood libraries in the central city and larger, more geographically dispersed libraries in suburban areas of Jefferson County.