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Jefferson County Library board seeks county support for $20 million expansion bond
Summary
Jefferson County Library District directors presented a plan for a $20 million building bond to expand a 6,000-square-foot facility, said the district has saved roughly $1.5 million in preparations and asked county leaders for public support ahead of the May ballot.
The Jefferson County Library District board asked the county commission for support of a proposed $20 million, 20-year building bond to expand the district’s 6,000-square-foot library building, which the presenters said has not kept pace with county growth since it opened in 1990.
Board members said they have already completed community planning, a concept design by Hacker Architects, and roughly $1.0 million in preparatory work; the district reported approximately $1.5 million in savings toward the project. The concept design presented in a short video showed an expansion to about 18,000 square feet with a separate children’s area, teen room, study rooms, family restrooms, stroller parking, an outdoor courtyard and an 80-person multipurpose room with a separate entrance for after-hours use.
District directors said the bond request will appear on the district ballot (the library district covers roughly a 21,000-person service area) and that if the bond passes the district would pursue grants and other funding so the full bond amount might not be issued at once. “The bond will actually be in series,” a board member said; the board said that having voter approval for the full ask can improve grant competitiveness and that successful grants could reduce the amount of debt actually issued.
Board members told commissioners the expansion prioritizes bringing staff back under the same roof (two-thirds of staff are currently in an adjacent admin building), improving children’s programming space and supporting partnerships with local schools and heritage/genealogy programs. Commissioners asked procedural questions about the district boundaries and ballot timing; the board said the election is set for May and the district includes Camp Sherman, Ashwood, Crooked River Ranch (partial) and other rural communities.
Ending: The library board asked county leaders to signal support and help spread information to district voters ahead of the May ballot.
