Imagine . . . In the New Library

Imagine a place where you can bring your pre-schooler to storytime, or your tween to a program, browse for a good mystery or audio book, use your laptop with wi-fi, and smell fresh coffee brewing while you take in a visiting art exhibit.

All under one roof.  All at the new Library.

For three years, Baxter County Public Library Foundation has worked through a deliberative planning process for a new library.  These efforts were rewarded in January, 2008, when the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation (DWRF) awarded a grant of $9.8 million to build, furnish, and equip a 35,500 square foot, two-story library in Mountain Home.

With the award of the Capital Grant, the dream of a new Library on Library Hill will soon become a reality.Our Library Vision statement sums it up well: 

We provide lifelong resources that educate, inspire, and entertain in a welcoming environment.

This is a vision which can transform a community!   More space will allow us to continue expanding services to a new level, especially for the most vulnerable members of our community – those with special challenges and needs, including the illiterate and the visually impaired. 

Did you know over 153,600 visitors checked out 251,359 items in 2007?   The new Library will allow space for the collection to grow along with the county population.

Twin Lakes Literacy Council will have an office and provide its services within the Library.  Our partnership is a natural fit as we address the 22% illiteracy rate in Baxter County.

More space will allow us to expand the number of computers available for public use from the 17 we have now.  We are the only source in Baxter County for free, convenient public access to computers.  Technology Literacy is a new Library role: it is as essential today for a citizen to thrive in school or the job market as reading was for previous generations.

A study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association, found that more than 73 percent of libraries report they are the only source for free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities. Surveyed libraries said that the top three Internet services most critical to their community are online educational resources and databases for K-12 students (67.7 percent); services for job seekers (44 percent); and computer and Internet skills training (29.8 percent).

The Library has formed a partnership with Arkansas Workforce and their JobLink services for employment.  The Library is open longer hours and more days than the local employment office; this partnership allows more people looking for jobs to access JobLink services from our computers to apply for jobs, participate in job training, and acquire job certifications. 

And we will soon be designated as Baxter County’s net access point for the Small Business Development Center’s services.

Space will allow us to have an expanded, dedicated, and appropriate children’s area, without shuffling between the Meeting Room and the current small children’s library.  No more “being stacked like cordwood during programs” as Library Board Chair Deborah Knox is fond of saying.   And no more juggling to provide story hour, or rationing of programming because of space limitations.

Attendance at children’s programming last year was over 4,000, plus accompanying adults as moms, dads, and grandparents all took part in the fun.  We encourage all family members to participate in our multi-generational programs.  All children’s programs are offered at no charge as a service of Baxter County Library, and children of all abilities are encouraged to attend.

More space will also allow for an expanded, dedicated area for the teen library.  Library programs planned by the teen librarian and Teen Library Council are making the Library a destination for more and more teens – program attendance nearly doubled last year.

Important to children and teens, but especially to their parents, are the access safeguards which will be a feature of the computers in their areas.

Space will allow us to host more traveling and local exhibits, like “Walk a Mile in My Moccasins” by Native American Valerie Goetz, part of the Arkansas Arts on tour.  We also host book signings, speakers and travelogues.

Space will allow for larger, well equipped meeting rooms.  Baxter County has over 100 civic, charitable, educational, and social organizations, all of which are constantly challenged to find good meeting space.  The new Library can help fill that need.

And finally, our Vision is that our Library will become a family destination appropriate for multi-generational visitors.  “A place to be, and a place to dream”, as Deborah Knox says. “The Library will be a forethought, not an afterthought.”

Our present Library is nearly invisible at the end of a dead-end street. Patrons have to actively search and be very persistent to find it.  While we WANT to serve who have the Library habit, and will find us, we NEED to serve those who won’t search for the Library

Our new location is highly visible for the entire county at the intersection of 201 South and the Sheid Hopper bypass, across from the beautiful ASU Mountain Home campus.  Library Hill sees over 10,000 vehicles pass on the bypass alone everyday.  For the first time our county Library will be easily accessible for the entire county. 

Investing in Your Place to Grow Campaign

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation requires us to raise a Programming Endowment equal to 20% of the Capital Grant, or approximately $2million, to ensure sustainability.  This endowment drawdown can be used to help with Library operations.  That‘s what we’re trying to raise now. 

Deborah Knox, Library Board Chair and Foundation Trustee, is the Capital Campaign Chair.  She and her husband, Tom, have made the lead gift commitment.

DWRF requires us to have commitments to fund the endowment before we move in. Commitments can be paid over the next four years. Our trustees’ goal is to have commitments for the total by the time occupy the new facility..

100% of the Library Board, Foundation Trustees, Friends of the Library Board, and Library Staff have committed to the Capital Campaign. 

Contact the Library Foundation office at 508-8349 or email foundation@baxtercountylibrary.org for more information on the Capital Campaign, Foundation events, or other questions.

Investing in Your Place to Grow is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring a significant cultural, educational and economic asset to Baxter County.  Whether or not a county resident has ever visited the public library, he or she benefits from its focus on education and literacy.

It is the responsibility and the privilege of those who can give to consider investing in a community asset that supports the development of Baxter County’s most precious resource – its people.

We’re Making History – Help Us Write the Story!!