County commissioners delay library funding decision

Flathead County commissioners are considering a request by the Columbia Falls branch library for $268,000 in funding.

The First Best Place wants the money to help move the library into Glacier Discovery Square.

Flathead County Library Director Kim Crowley and Barry Conger, FBP executive director, met with county commissioners last week to ask for the money. The commissioners voted to take the request under advisement and make a decision sometime in January.

Crowley said the Columbia Falls branch is cramped in its space inside City Hall.

“We’re busting at the seams there,” she said.

The library has space to hold story time and teen events, but there’s no room for any community programs, she noted.

With funding from the county, Crowley estimated that the library could be in Discovery Square by the fall of 2011.

Crowley and Conger said the funding commitment from the county would open up several avenues in grant and foundation funding for the library. FBP already has about $300,000 committed for what’s expected to be a $1.4 million project.

If approved, the funding would go towards remodeling the main floor of Discovery Square and used for shelving and furniture. The library system will recieve computers and materials from the Whitefish library once that library separates from the county in July.

Commissioner Joe Brenneman asked about the support from the Columbia Falls Library Association, stating he’s heard they are fine with the current location.

Conger said the library association is considered one of the FBP’s partners.

“They are a very conservative group,” Conger said. “They are not ready to write a check yet. They want to make sure funding is in place first.”

The City of Columbia Falls has agreed, if the money is available in its budget, to provide janitorial and groundskeeping services for the library once it’s in Discovery Square. Under the current interlocal agreement, the city provides the building, utilities and maintenance.

Crowley said the library will only move into a new space if those items are provided, whether by the city or FBP.

Brenneman said the county’s budget is in good shape and he would be in favor of the request, even if it meant delaying construction for new commissioner offices.

“If it were up to me we’d do it,” he said.

However, Brenneman’s term is up at the end of the year. Incoming Commissioner Pam Holmquist will have to make the decision with the other two commissioners.

Commissioner Dale Lauman was absent from the meeting last week because of health reasons.

Commissioner Jim Dupont said he needed more time with the decision.

“The issue I have with an allocation of more than a quarter-million dollars is I don’t know where it will come from,” he said.