The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
It’s funky, it’s homey…it’s small
If libraries are stereotypically quiet bastions of solitude, Crested Butte’s library doesn’t fit the mold. It is busy and it can be noisy. Heading in there for a quiet read during kid’s story time isn’t going to happen.
And so the Gunnison County Library board of directors is looking at ways to expand the facility and add a separate children’s library. This will expand the space and give a little separation between children, teens and adults who may be coming to the library for different purposes.
Board president Bruce Bartleson approached the Crested Town Council on Monday, March 7 to get a feeling if the council would allow an expansion near the current Old Rock Library. What it would look like, how it would be paid for and when it would be done are still issues for debate. But the council warmed to the idea and said they would consider such an expansion.
Bartleson and executive director Larry Meredith said the board is debating whether to go to the voters this fall for a bond issue or mil levy increase for expansions in Crested Butte and Gunnison.
“We love the Old Rock,” said Bartleson. “It is funky, it is homey and we love it. But there are some things that need to be done and improving the services for the children is a priority.”
Meredith said nearly 36,000 visits were recorded at the Crested Butte facility last year and almost 48,000 items were checked out. “Both the Gunnison and Crested Butte facilities are pretty small,” he said. “Old Rock is about 3,000 square feet and the Gunnison Library is about 5,000 square feet. We eventually want to have a presence in Crested Butte South and maybe on the mountain in the new Performing Arts Center. But Old Rock is the focus right now.”
Meredith said it is obviously “tough” when the library is crowded with kids. “It can be chaos,” he said, “so the idea is to add a 1,000-square-foot separate building for a children’s library to the south of the current building. It would be a place for kids and maybe have a few meeting rooms.”
Mayor Leah Williams said there would definitely be impacts with a new building on the grounds, including the use of already tight public lands and parking.
Councilperson Jim Schmidt asked if the board had discussed combining library facilities at the schools and Western State College. Meredith explained that the libraries serve different functions. “Western is a college research library, while the Community School library serves the students but closes at 3:45, for example.
Asked if this addition would be a stopgap measure, Meredith said the board felt “this would be a fairly long-term solution.”
Meredith said the board has explored purchasing the lot across the street from the Old Rock. They have also looked at partnering with an expanded Crested Butte Arts Center, “but keeping a children’s library close to the main library is important. This is plan B or C or D right now. We have looked at a lot of options. We feel this might be something the voters might be interested in supporting.”
He admitted there are no hard plans for an expansion but the board wanted feedback on the concept before proceeding any further.
“You are the experts,” commented councilperson Dan Escalante. “At the end of the day if you’re excited and the town staff is okay with it, I can’t see being against it.”
“I would want to get a sense of what it looks like first before saying okay,” said councilperson Phoebe Wilson. “It is in a sensitive place. And parking will be an issue. It can be crowded in that area.”
“We agree with that,” said Meredith.
“I too need visualization before I could definitely say okay,” added councilperson Jim Schmidt. “I support it in general but it depends on what it looks like.”
“We think it needs to fit in with the character of the community,” said Meredith.
Meredith said the library board was willing to renegotiate the lease with the town. Currently the library pays $1 a year “but we are willing to negotiate a more reasonable lease for that building and property,” he said.
The Town Council gave a general thumbs-up for the library board and the town staff to spend time on moving forward with preliminary plans to expand the library. The board will spend some time figuring out its expansion plans and coming up with the most palatable way to finance such a project.
