Library advocates press city to prioritize a new facility in comprehensive‑plan update

YANKTON, S.D. — Several library advocates told Yankton City planners Tuesday that a new library should be a top priority in the update to the city’s comprehensive plan.

“Eighty‑five percent responded that they are very in favor of a new library,” said Anne Clough, a volunteer with the Yankton Community Library Foundation, who described a foundation survey that drew more than 1,400 responses and indicated roughly 65% support for a property‑tax opt‑out to help fund a new facility. Clough said the current library is about 15,000 square feet while a needs assessment done 15 years ago recommended roughly 30,000 square feet.

Other speakers backed the call. Tanya Farrell, a former local library director, said the existing building is “good enough” but not great and urged the community to invest in a modern facility. Mary Pat Beyerly, a library board trustee, said the current building is “half the size of what it should be” and described the library as heavily used year‑round; she said it does not meet ADA requirements.

Foundation members said they have repeatedly studied libraries in similarly sized communities and that the proposed facility would include separate children’s and teen spaces and modern adult services. Speakers urged the planning process to explicitly list a new library among the city’s top capital‑investment priorities over the plan’s 20‑year horizon.

City staff told attendees that the comprehensive plan update will incorporate facility needs into draft land‑use recommendations and that the 2003 plan remains the operative document until a new plan is adopted. The foundation’s supporters said they plan to continue outreach and urged residents to complete the online survey and interactive map used in the planning process.