Supporters: Library tops project list

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Walt Dunlap

Supporters of expansion at the Fergus Falls Public Library made their case to the city council Monday as council members discussed how best to further prioritize local projects.

A roughly 12,500 square foot addition to the library’s south side is one of many projects on the council’s radar, alongside street improvements, pumping at Pebble Lake, work to City Hall, a new ice arena and others.

But on Monday, library supporters said expansion of the Fergus Falls facility should top the list.

“(The) bottom line is we need space,” said Library Director Walt Dunlap, explaining that part of the problem with the current building is meeting guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There has been some concern with current aisle widths, Dunlap said, as well as turnaround space for patrons in wheelchairs.

A library addition would make room for an improved children’s section and afford space for new programs like poetry slams and gaming events, Dunlap said. It would also allow the library to build its technology reserve, something it has been unable to do in its current space.

“We really had no idea when we built the building in 1985-1986 that the computer revolution would so overwhelm us,” Dunlap said, adding that the building was initially home to one Apple computer.

Computer and Internet access is something many library patrons don’t have access to, Dunlap said, and service via the library helps to level the playing field.

Technology is also key for John Helland, president of the Fergus Falls Public Library Board of Trustees. Information changes quickly in this day and age, Helland said, and libraries need to find ways to stay up to date.

“The library...has the potential to become outdated fast,” Helland told council members. “As a board, we have to respond to that...My biggest concern is that we fall behind, because the further we fall behind the harder it is to catch up.”

The project’s $5 million cost would not cover the purchase of additional computers and other technology, Dunlap said, but would require an estimated additional $500,000.

Of that $5 million, the Board of Trustees is asking the city council for $2 million, as well as a commitment to underwrite the project until fundraising is complete. For its part, the Board would contribute $3 million: $1.5 via fundraising, half a million from a state grant and $1 million from the estate of the late Sis Cowles.

Yet no part of the Board’s contribution is guaranteed. The library plans to apply for a $500,000 grant from a $1.5 million state pool for library projects. Grant applications are due by mid-October, said Viking Library System Director Peg Werner, and require details like floor plans, elevations and soil tests to be considered. Werner said she only knew of one other major library project elsewhere in the state, but didn’t know the specifics of a handful of smaller ventures.

As far as fundraising is concerned, Werner said Board members are prepared for what will be a “tremendous effort.”

Yet support for the library runs high, she said, and if smaller communities within the Viking Library System can raise the funds for library projects, Fergus Falls can do it, too.

“I’ve watched these kinds of fundraising projects in towns much, much smaller than Fergus Falls and it’s been very, very successful,” Werner said.

The Board would result to additional fundraising if the state did not come through as expected, Werner said.

In order to start the grant application process as soon as possible, library supporters must know whether they have the backing of the city or not. What will help the council prioritize library expansion and other projects, said City Administrator Mark Sievert, is information on how each venture would affect tax dollars. This information will be included in a work session on project priorities tentatively scheduled for June 16 at 4 p.m. in City Hall council chambers.