Chaska library leaders present annual report, urge council to back new library and extended-access service

Jody Edstrom, director of the Carver County Library System, and Kevin Spencer, branch manager for the Chaska Library, presented the library’s annual report to the Chaska City Council on April 20, 2026, citing systemwide usage that officials said exceeded 1.5 million checkouts last year and an American Library Association valuation of the system at more than $32 million.

Edstrom described a new extended-access pilot that allows trained adult cardholders to enter participating branches outside staffed hours using their library card number and PIN; the service provides access from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is intended to help patrons such as students and shift workers who need quiet space at nontraditional hours. “We had one user who noted to us he has been able to complete some master’s classes because he can come on Sundays and leave his busy home and come into that quiet space,” Edstrom said.

Spencer highlighted how limited physical space at the Chaska branch constrains programming even as demand rises. He gave facility and staffing figures the council can use in planning: the current Chaska branch was presented as about 8,480 square feet serving a service population the county calculates at over 40,000; staffing was shown as roughly 2.7 full-time equivalent librarians for that population, a ratio the presenters described as stretched compared with nearby branches.

Both presenters sketched ambitions for a new Chaska library that would include community-oriented features discussed at national library conferences—maker space, a teaching kitchen and a ‘library of things’—and asked the council to support rapid movement on a design task force. Staff told the council a county board appointment to the library design task force was expected immediately and an initial meeting to engage an architect was scheduled in the weeks that followed.

Mary, president of the Friends of the Chaska Library, said her nonprofit has money set aside to buy supplemental items for a new building and described the Friends’ ongoing book-sales fundraising and volunteer support. “We are so excited about this new library and we have a little bit of money set aside to buy extra things once we have the building,” she said.

Mayor Hubard and several council members praised library staff and volunteers and said they view the library alongside public-safety investments as essential community infrastructure. Council members asked for continued updates on projected space needs, timelines for the design task force, and potential funding sources. Edstrom and Spencer offered to provide the council more detailed program and use data and to meet with council members as planning advances.

The presentation closed with staff noting that extended-access could be designed into a new Chaska facility from the start, and with the council thanking the presenters. No formal council action on funding or site selection was taken at the April 20 meeting; staff said public engagement and the design-task-force process would be the next steps.