Let's all add a little steam to the library campaign

By Chronicle Editor

Of the various civic facilities campaigns afoot in the Bozeman area right now, none has more momentum - or holds more promise for the whole community - than the construction of a new public library.

Bozeman voters OK'd a $4 million bond issue for the project a couple of years ago. The process of selling the old library is underway. And the drive to raise $5 million in private donations has hit a solid $2 million in pledges with the recent help of a $250,000 grant from the Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation.

The bond issue, the sale of the existing library and government grants are expected to provide some $8 million toward this $13 million project. Now it just needs a little more help from the rest of us.

When it's completed in the fall of 2005, the new library will be the centerpiece of a renaissance that is turning East Main into a thriving part of downtown Bozeman. Board members are laying plans for a 50,000-square-foot architecturally fascinating building that will look out on a plaza along Main Street on one side and the Peets Hill side of Lindley Park on the other.

But more than a building, this new library will provide sorely needed space for Bozeman's extraordinary literary demands. Library use here is evidence of what survey after survey has shown: that Bozeman is a highly educated community with a lust for knowledge. Per capita library usage here is much higher here than in most communities. The old building outgrew the needs of the community in just over 20 short years.

What better way to express pride in our town than to contribute to this worthwhile civic effort. The new library will become a major community gathering place for many years. We should all become a part of this effort to the extent we can afford to give.

Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to the Bozeman Public Library Foundation, 524 E. Mendenhall St., Bozeman, MT 59715, or contact the foundation for more information at 522-9900.

Reader Comments