News
Opinion
Breckenridge residents and visitors may eventually see a bigger library in town, as the county prepares to commission a concept plan for a new facility that will help address space and crowding problems.
“We do the best we can with the space we've got,” library director Joyce Dierauer said. “But we need to have a bigger, better facility so that we can do a better job of serving the public in that end of the county.”
Dierauer and other county officials envision a 10,000 square foot library with quiet study space, room for additional materials and a programming area where children's events or non-profit meetings could be held without intruding on the rest of the library. Moving the library to a new building would also allow the Summit County District Attorney's office to be moved back to the justice center from its current location on Airport Road.
But a new facility could cost anywhere between $2.5 and $4 million and an expansion for the DA's office would be another $1-2 million, leaving the county with an all-too-familiar problem.
“We don't have dedicated funds for the project,” assistant county manager Scott Vargo said. “The county has (dollars) that are dedicated capital funds, but there would be a significant portion we would hope would come from fundraising, grants and other sources.”
Officials say with some county seed money, proceeds from the sale of the DA's current office on Airport Road and a design and concept plan for a new building, the project might find enough grant and private donation funding to come together.
“The plan is to try to raise money for a new facility, but we need to have some specifics before we can move forward with that,” Dierauer said. “(We think) for a cause as good as this (private donors) would be willing to give us money, but until we know what we're going to build and what it's going to cost, it's really hard to go out and ask for that money.”
So the county will offer a bid to one of four competing architectural firms, likely in the next few weeks, to come up with a plan for either an expansion to the existing facility or a whole new library building.
The south branch was built in 1996 with the money available at the time, though Dierauer said it was never big enough. Over the years, use of the library has grown and, with visitors and locals flocking in to use the computers or wireless Internet, it is now the busiest of the three branches.
The library in Breckenridge had 92,000 visitors last year, compared to 86,000 at the main branch in Frisco and 80,000 at the north branch in Silverthorne, though it is smaller than both of the other branches.
People sometimes have to sit on the ground with their laptops while using the library's wireless Internet connection, or step over children who occasionally fill up the children's area and begin to crowd the entire facility during popular programs and events.
Meanwhile, there is no quiet area and very little study space for students who come in to work in the afternoons and librarians have even begun to run out of places to put new inventory.
“It's a no-growth collection right now,” Dierauer said. “If I put something into that space, I have to take something out.”
A new facility, she said, would allow for a bigger children's space, where kids could have access to their own set of computers and librarians could set up a craft area and not worry about crowding during programs and events. It would also provide sufficient quiet study space and room for a growing collection of books, DVDs and books on tape.
But county officials have another reason for wanting to move the library.
“Part of what's driving this project is that we would very much like to bring the district attorney to the justice center campus and relocate (the) probation (office) into that expanded space from their basement office,” Vargo said. “It would allow for some growth that we've been experiencing in the sheriff's office and extend the life of that existing structure.”
Officials are honing in on an adjacent parcel between the existing library and the recreation center as the most likely location for a new library facility, though a few other locations in Breckenridge are still under consideration.
“We do the best we can with the space we've got,” library director Joyce Dierauer said. “But we need to have a bigger, better facility so that we can do a better job of serving the public in that end of the county.”
Dierauer and other county officials envision a 10,000 square foot library with quiet study space, room for additional materials and a programming area where children's events or non-profit meetings could be held without intruding on the rest of the library. Moving the library to a new building would also allow the Summit County District Attorney's office to be moved back to the justice center from its current location on Airport Road.
But a new facility could cost anywhere between $2.5 and $4 million and an expansion for the DA's office would be another $1-2 million, leaving the county with an all-too-familiar problem.
“We don't have dedicated funds for the project,” assistant county manager Scott Vargo said. “The county has (dollars) that are dedicated capital funds, but there would be a significant portion we would hope would come from fundraising, grants and other sources.”
Officials say with some county seed money, proceeds from the sale of the DA's current office on Airport Road and a design and concept plan for a new building, the project might find enough grant and private donation funding to come together.
“The plan is to try to raise money for a new facility, but we need to have some specifics before we can move forward with that,” Dierauer said. “(We think) for a cause as good as this (private donors) would be willing to give us money, but until we know what we're going to build and what it's going to cost, it's really hard to go out and ask for that money.”
So the county will offer a bid to one of four competing architectural firms, likely in the next few weeks, to come up with a plan for either an expansion to the existing facility or a whole new library building.
The south branch was built in 1996 with the money available at the time, though Dierauer said it was never big enough. Over the years, use of the library has grown and, with visitors and locals flocking in to use the computers or wireless Internet, it is now the busiest of the three branches.
The library in Breckenridge had 92,000 visitors last year, compared to 86,000 at the main branch in Frisco and 80,000 at the north branch in Silverthorne, though it is smaller than both of the other branches.
People sometimes have to sit on the ground with their laptops while using the library's wireless Internet connection, or step over children who occasionally fill up the children's area and begin to crowd the entire facility during popular programs and events.
Meanwhile, there is no quiet area and very little study space for students who come in to work in the afternoons and librarians have even begun to run out of places to put new inventory.
“It's a no-growth collection right now,” Dierauer said. “If I put something into that space, I have to take something out.”
A new facility, she said, would allow for a bigger children's space, where kids could have access to their own set of computers and librarians could set up a craft area and not worry about crowding during programs and events. It would also provide sufficient quiet study space and room for a growing collection of books, DVDs and books on tape.
But county officials have another reason for wanting to move the library.
“Part of what's driving this project is that we would very much like to bring the district attorney to the justice center campus and relocate (the) probation (office) into that expanded space from their basement office,” Vargo said. “It would allow for some growth that we've been experiencing in the sheriff's office and extend the life of that existing structure.”
Officials are honing in on an adjacent parcel between the existing library and the recreation center as the most likely location for a new library facility, though a few other locations in Breckenridge are still under consideration.
