 Photo by Bill Hudson |
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Archuleta County's library: By whatever name,
changing with technology
to provide education for all ages
By Carole Howard
Reprinted from The Pagosa Springs SUN Preview -- October 19, 2006
What’s in a name? Some people just call it The Library. Or they call it Our Library. Some call it the Pagosa Library – but that’s not entirely accurate, as it serves all of Archuleta County. The name on the sign out front is Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library. The official name for tax purposes is the Upper San Juan Library District.
Regardless of what name you choose, our library is a center of learning and life-long self-education, a resource for every citizen in the county from babies to seniors, students to retirees.
As many of its patrons will tell you, it also is a very fun place to go for special programs. And, as its first librarian Lenore Bright points out, it has changed with the times.
“Technology advances have affected every aspect of library service,” Bright said. “We can now consider the physical library an ‘information commons’ with books and computers sharing the same space – a reminder to us all that valuable information comes in many forms.”
Library launched with gifts of books
Our library actually started in 1896 with the personal collection of local attorney Frank Spickard. He made his books available to a young ladies’ literary club whose members loved reading.
Meanwhile, a few years earlier a wealthy Methodist had died in New York, and his estate donated 48 books to be used as a library in Pagosa Springs. On February 22, 1907, the collections merged and the Pagosa Springs Public Library opened in the basement of the Methodist Church.
At first the library was run by women volunteers. Then in February of 1910, the Woman’s Civic Club was formed. Its members – again, all volunteers -- took over operation of the library, which by then had a collection of 202 books. From 1910 until 1960, the Civic Club ran the library which, after residing in the church, moved to a log cabin and then to the town hall on the river.
In 1960, Civic Club members helped pay for a new town hall on the corner of Highway 160 and Lewis Street. In 1966, Archuleta County took over the library. But they had very little money so the library became a “line item” in the county budget, receiving minimal financial support.
Searching for a permanent home
It remained the goal of the Civic Club to provide a permanent home for the library. Its members continued to give major support to the library, and donations were always important to keep the collection expanding.
In 1963, the Friends of the Library organization was formed to involve others with fundraising for a permanent facility. It was not until l983 that Lenore Bright was hired as our first full-time librarian. In 1985, the Upper San Juan Library District was formed to give the library a stable 1.5 mill levy funding base, and the county no longer provided funds for its operation.
On February 7, 1989 the library opened debt free on its current site, thanks to the Civic Club and Friends of the Library jointly raising more than $700,000 and Robert Lindner’s donation of the property. At Lindner’s request, it was named the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library after a long-time supporter who was a member of the library’s first Friends group and also a generous contributor.
Library expands in 2005
In 2005 the library completed a $600,000 expansion, entirely paid for with grants and individual donations saved over many years. Not a penny of increased local tax dollars went toward the new building, one of only a few libraries in Colorado to accomplish such a feat.
“All our books, programs and other materials are available free of charge to anyone with a library card,” said library director Jackie Welch. “And don’t forget that a library card is free as well!”
Welch said that virtually everyone knows books are available at a library -- in print as hard-cover or soft, as audio books on tape or CDs, or in large-type editions. Less well known, she pointed out, is the fact that about 80 different magazines and newspapers are available for borrowing, as are videos, DVD movies, music CDs and interlibrary loans.
There also are services for people with special needs, such as a machine that enlarges print material for those with eyesight problems and access to special books on tape for the disabled.
As well, the library’s computers are extremely popular, especially because they offer state-of-the-art computer services with filtering to ensure safe internet access.
Programs for all ages
In addition to providing books, computers, other materials and services, the library hosts a variety of programs for all ages.
Among the many programs for children are the Preschool Story Hour on Wednesday mornings, the Saturday morning Pagosa Pretender events, and the Summer Reading Program.
Created especially for adults and seniors is the Lifelong Learning program, with a wide variety of events including a jazz concert, guest lecturers and slide shows. Lecture topics include local history, water issues, engineering, physics and the arts.
Among programs for all ages are the annual Friends of the Library book sale and Pagosa Reads, a series of books reviews, lectures, slide shows and other events.
Other ongoing programs include conversational French Thursday evenings and the library’s new chess club on Tuesday evenings.
Wealth of education, entertainment
“We hope everyone reading this article who hasn’t come by the library lately will take the opportunity to visit us to see what we have available for you,” Welch said.
“Our goal is to have all Archuleta County citizens consider the library a valuable resource for themselves and their families. We want everyone to be aware of the many free benefits of being a library card-holder, because we offer a wealth of education and entertainment at your convenience.”
“Our democracy depends upon a citizenry that is well informed,” Bright added, “and our library’s main mission is to provide materials to help accomplish that goal.”
She cited a quote from planetary scientist Carl Sagan, who said in his book “Cosmos:” “I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.”