Library to check out another building

For nearly 13 years, the Gibson Memorial Board of Trustees has been working toward an expansion of its facility. It will research a proposal of moving the library to another location in town.

During the board’s meeting Monday, it approved to research a partnership with Greater Regional Health as its foundation in November purchased the former Walmart building on U.S. Highway 34. The foundation is planning remodeling the building into a community and event center. Library board president Ann Coulter said library board members approached the hospital about the idea.

Coulter explained the library would be housed in the building slated to begin remodeling this year.

“A couple of our members approached the hospital in regards to that and they were in favor of it,” said Coulter. “We went back and made a list of pros and cons ... and we approached the Mayor and [Mike] Taylor (city administrator) to find out if there was any possibility of doing this.”

Coulter said one of the steps is an architect will need to provide an estimate of costs to see if expanding the library at its location is more or less cost effective than proceeding with Greater Regional Health’s community and event center proposal.

Library board member, Connie Maxon, said “the capital campaign committee has been trying to make the expansion happen for years. This option came up, and I don’t know if it’s the right decision or not, but it gets us to the 14,000 square feet we wanted.” “It’s all on one floor”, Maxon says.

Gibson Memorial Library’s current footprint is just over 7,000 square feet.

Library Director Aric Bishop said when it comes to an expansion, he looks at the history of the project. He said the library was last renovated in 1999, when Laugermann Architects added square footage and elevator for ADA compliance. As programming has grown, it has attempted expanding to improve delivery of services, as space is limited when workshops, meetings and guest speakers are present.

“If you look at communities the same size as us, they have 14,000 square feet or more,” Bishop said. “It would more than double our current space no matter what plan or decision we decide to go with.”

Maxon said she doesn’t necessarily love the location of Greater Regional Health’s event space, but said there are “some real pros” to a partnership under one roof.

“It has a great parking lot,” said Maxon.

Some concern was raised about accessibility for pedestrians, should library programing and any services be moved to GRH’s location. Bishop said the library knows of five people who walk to the library on a regular basis. Board member Vidette Dixon-Borgmann said transportation will be an issue library hours exceed Southern Iowa Trolly’s hours of operation. She also said the board needs to focus on learning what the needs are of those in the community who are underserved, such as minorities, individuals with disabilities or suffer from economic disadvantages.

Following an initial discussion, board member Ross Rinehart made a motion to move forward with a researching community needs and surveying of the public as it pertains to a potential partnership with Greater Regional Health. Maxon made a motion to use $8,000 from the library’s capital campaign to fund a study for the potential project. The board passed both motions with board member Mark Williams absent.

As the board continues to work on its expansion plans, Bishop said it’s a learning process.

“We’re trying to move forward with what’s best for our community,” he said. “And an expansion is what’s best for our community. But how we get there, we kind of have to pivot and adjust ... and we have to work with our partners in our community in order to succeed.”

Coulter, said the idea of moving the library at this point had not been on her radar. In the past, discussion included moving the library to Lincoln School, which many community members favored, but ultimately city council did not support.

“I was surprised. I was very surprised. I think we need to do a lot of research to see if that fits the needs of the community,” said Coulter.

“Partnerships are always a good idea. And I’m excited about that partnership, but hope we can create other partnerships, also,” she said.

In other library board news:

• The library was reimbursed $5,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds.

• The board met with Misty Gray, Southwest District Consultant from the State Library of Iowa, about redeveloping its long-term strategic plan.

• The board discussed continuing educational materal about board relationships with library staff and municipal partners.