Library relocation squabble continues

Friends of the Columbia Falls library seem split on what the future of the library should be.

However, they do agree on one point: They all want the library to be the best it can be.

The Flathead County Library System and First Best Place have been working on a proposal to relocate the branch library from City Hall to Glacier Discovery Square. Both groups have asked the city and county to support the project.

A few members of the Columbia Falls Library Association have spoken out against the move, while others have given their consent for relocation.

The disagreement came to a head Monday when the Columbia Falls City Council held a special meeting on the issue. County Commissioner Jim Dupont attended the meeting.

“Tell us whether or not this community wants to move the library,” Mayor Don Barnhart said. “We’re looking out for everybody in this city.”

Carmen Wyman, a member of CFLA who has been critical of the move, asked a number of questions about how the library would look in the new space. Primarily she asked where funding would come from to pay for utilities and building space for the library if it’s in Discovery Square.

“The library is secure where it is,” she said. “Whereever is a secure place for the library is where we want it. We don’t want to put the library in jeopardy.”

Flathead County Library Director Kim Crowley supports the move and said so does the library association.

“We have a beautiful space now, but we’ve outgrown it,” she said.

Nancy Callen, a CFLA member who works at the library, concurred that many of the association members have agreed to the move.

“We’ve talked about it for years,” she said. “We voted to spend money on it.”

Still, a few members disagree and say they have had little communication with the First Best Place and Crowley.

First Best Place director Barry Conger disagreed.

“We felt we have had a strong communication with the library association,” he said. “We thought we were communicating.”

In December, Crowley and Conger approached the city asking for a letter of support for the relocation. They have also asked the county for $250,000 to help fund the move.

After some CFLA members began voicing opposition to the move, both the city and county held off on a decision. In the meantime, Conger agreed to meet with CFLA to address its concerns.

Monday’s meeting was an effort to sort out the confusion, but the continued split of opinions didn’t sit well with the council.

“Are we sitting here because there’s a spat between the Columbia Falls Library association and the library system?” councilman Dave Petersen asked.

The council asked how many members are in CFLA. Representatives from the association couldn’t come up with an exact figure, but estimated there is about a dozen members. Half of that regularly attend meetings.

“I’m still uncertain about the position of the library association,” councilwoman Julie Plevel said. “Is there one chairperson? I would like to know what is your group consensus and are you willing to share your funds?”

A TWO-PHASE project is planned to renovate Glacier Discovery Square. The lower level of the building would become a community center and the upper half would house the library. Plans for the library include an outside reading area, a children’s space and an atrium.

The project is expected to cost about $1.4 million. The first portion, about $400,000, has been secured to remodel the lower level. Work is expected to begin in the spring.

Fundraising has started for the upper half of the building. First Best Place hopes to get county money, which it thinks will help secure other funding sources.

“We have a lot of funding requests out,” Conger said. “We want to make sure we have the money fundraised before we start spending.”

Wyman said she doesn’t feel that the library would be secure with First Best Place owning the building.

“My concern is the money,” she said. “Where’s it going to come from?”

Conger presented a preliminary budget that showed how rental of the community space could cover the costs.

“This is a hypothetical conversation,” he said. Concrete numbers aren’t possible until the building is operational, he noted.

Conger made a plea to the library association members and the community asking for help. He said First Best Place has been on a marathon to create something for the community.

“That’s what we’ve been doing for three years is running,” he said. “We can’t carry this baton by ourselves. The entire community needs to be on board.”

He welcomed input from the library association.

“If the library association doesn’t think this is a good idea, it won’t happen,” he said.

THE CITY COUNCIL asked the library system, First Best Place and the library association to come to an agreement.

“You guys need to come together as a group,” councilman Mike Shepard said.

Councilman Dave Petersen said he supports the idea and the details could be worked out at a later date.

“I feel confident this is not happening in 30 days, but years down the road,” he said. “Are we going to follow or are we going to lead? It’s just a letter.”

In the meantime, the city will draft a letter of support for the project. The council will still have to vote on the letter at its Feb. 7 meeting before it can be signed.

The city has not agreed to commit funding to the project. If the county commissioners will approve the funding request is uncertain.

Commissioner Jim Dupont said the project is “low on the priority list.”

“It would be nice to say we have the money,” he said. “The commission is a very conservative group right now because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

He pointed to other projects, like a new jail, that seem more pressing.

“It’s very difficult to say when we don’t know how much this will cost,” he said. “A $250,000 commitment — how long will that be held by the First Best Place before they use it? In the meantime the county could use that money.”