Advertisement

Lake Elmo is assembling its new library from scratch

After separating from the county system, citizens and the Jaycees are pitching in to help the city build its own collection.

November 6, 2011 at 2:06AM

The Lake Elmo Library has a long wish list -- books, periodicals, videos, computers, bookshelves, tables and chairs. A place to put it all is on the list, too.

The city is putting together a library to serve the community's 8,000 residents. And since it is starting from scratch, Lake Elmo is soliciting donations from the public to furnish and equip its library through a campaign called "Operation Bookstrap."

The city voted earlier this year to separate itself from the Washington County Library System and use the tax money it paid into the system to run its own library. Washington County will shut down the tiny Rosalie E. Wahl Library at the end of the year as part of a budget-balancing plan.

"The county is taking everything out of the current building," said Mayor Dean Johnston. "So we, as a community, have to lift ourselves up by our own 'bookstraps'."

Flyers announcing the collection effort have been posted throughout town. They ask citizens to drop off children's books, adult fiction and nonfiction books, books-on-tape, reference materials, videos, movies, CDs, and toys and games at City Hall or at Fury Motors on Stillwater Boulevard. The flyers also request tax-deductible donations of tables and chairs, children's furniture, photocopiers and fax machines, and they encourage people to consider purchasing a newspaper or periodical subscription for the library.

The effort to stock the library is gaining momentum. In the past few weeks, the city has collected about 400 boxes of books that were left over from a used-book sale in Eagan. The Lake Elmo Jaycees bought $400 worth of material at a used-book sale and persuaded a store manager to donate eight additional boxes of books. The Jaycees, who have 42 members between ages 18 and 40 who live in the city and St. Croix Valley, also sent word to other chapters statewide that are rallying around the cause and sending in donations.

"The response has been overwhelming," said Sarah Quick, Jaycee secretary and president-elect. "Our bread and butter as an organization is to help out the community. When we heard they were starting, we asked what we could do to help and fill a library."

Quick said the Jaycees have secured more than 1,000 items, ranging from John Grisham novels to biographies on President John Adams to children's books such as "Lyle the Crocodile," the Berenstain Bears and the Boxcar Children novels. The biggest need is for current reference materials, books on tape and CDs, she said.

Advertisement
Advertisement

For now, the items are being kept in a storage locker, but it's unclear where they will be on display when the library opens during the first quarter of 2012. Two options on the table now call for the library to remain in its current location at 3479 Lake Elmo Av. N. or to relocate to the Lake Elmo Arts Center where space is available, said Interim City Manager Craig Dawson.

A move to the arts center would result in a one-time expense to fortify the floors so they can bear the extra weight, but setting up there would reduce expenses by about $30,000 a year, Dawson said.

The city will have about $260,000 a year available to operate the library. That's more than the $131,752 Washington County spent to operate the Rosalie E. Wahl Library in 2010, but that figure did not include costs for software licenses, maintaining patron records, sending notices and other administrative overhead, according to Washington County Library officials.

Plans call for the nonprofit Friends of the Lake Elmo Library to line up volunteers to staff the library, which will operate about 20 hours per week.

Other details still have to be worked out, said Dawson. But they may become clearer in the coming weeks. On Wednesday, the City Council is expected to seat a five-member library board. The city is currently reviewing applications for the library advisor position. The successful candidate will help craft policies and procedures, and eventually help develop staff and programming.

The city also wants to enter into a contractual agreement with the county library system for services, similar to arrangements the county has with libraries in Stillwater and Bayport, Dawson said.

Advertisement

Washington County is replacing the Marine on St. Croix and Newport libraries with a Library Express service that allows patrons to order materials from a kiosk or home computer and have them delivered to a locker at City Hall. That service model had been proposed for Lake Elmo, but the city declined and voted to opt out of the county system.

Tim Harlow • 651-925-5039 Twitter: @timstrib

Advertisement
about the writer

about the writer

Tim Harlow

Reporter

Tim Harlow covers traffic and transportation issues in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and likes to get out of the office, even during rush hour. He also covers the suburbs in northern Hennepin and all of Anoka counties, plus breaking news and weather.

See Moreicon

More from No Section

See More

Kyiv was targeted with waves of drone and missile attacks overnight into Friday in the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago, officials said, amid a renewed Russian push to capture more of its neighbor's land.

Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement