People came from nearby Rockrimmon residences and towns miles away for the May 10 grand opening of a small library across the street from where the city’s second busiest library was until Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) shut it down last year.
“We wanted to help our community fill the void left by Rockrimmon’s closure, even if we had to do it ourselves,” Karla Powers said in a speech at the event. Powers is the director of COS Reads, which fought to save Rockrimmon and now runs the interim library.
The grand opening marked the end of a months-long grassroots effort to restore library services in the northwest after Rockrimmon Library closed on Nov. 30.
“It’s amazing what you’ve accomplished,” City Councilor Dave Donelson said to more than 100 people who came to the gathering at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Vindicator Drive, which has offered the interim library a home.
Attendees shared memories of the old library and words of praise for the new one in a guestbook.
“I miss … sitting in ‘my corner’ to read the New York Times,” wrote one person.
“Loved buying used children’s books to stock my son’s free library in memory of our first granddaughter,” wrote another.
Messages about the new library included thanks “for being the example,” “So glad to still have a library here,” and “Never give up!”
Donelson, who has vocally supported COS Reads since its inception, was expected to be confirmed as one of two City Council library liaisons in the days following the grand opening. Liaisons help to choose members for the PPLD board of trustees – the people who vote on decisions like whether to close Rockrimmon.
Councilor Nancy Henjum told the crowd that she will be kept on as Council’s other library liaison and would work with Donelson to get a library back in the Rockrimmon area.
“Whether we need to remove [board of trustees] members, whatever it is that we need to do, we will do it,” Henjum said to cheers.
Whatever it is that we need to do, we will do it. – Nancy Henjum, COS councilor
She was the last speaker before guests went inside to have cake, visit the adults’ and children’s rooms, sign up for library cards and check out books.
Just before her, County Commissioner Bill Wysong stirred controversy when he said supporters of the library needed “to look at both sides … and understand what the PPLD is up against.” His comment was greeted with icy silence, and people quietly talked about it inside the library.
In a telephone conversation with the Pikes Peak Bulletin on Monday, Wysong clarified what he meant.
“Do I agree that the library was closed? Absolutely not. I think it was handled very poorly and was the wrong decision to make,” he said.
“However, what I meant is … what’s our end goal? To get the library back. And how do we do that? By working with the library district,” and “turning to our advantage … the tremendous amount of clout,” that the Rockrimmon community has shown itself to have, he said.
He called for the City Council and the Board of County Commissioners to have greater oversight over the PPLD, and for a strategic plan outlining how to grow library services in the Pikes Peak region to be drafted. But, he warned, such a plan would only succeed if citizens’ input is heard, and communities and the PPLD work together.
The PPLD last month posted a letter on its website, sent by its lawyer to COS Reads’ counsel, calling on the grassroots group to stop using “Rockrimmon” in the interim library’s name, and Toddler Time and Paws to Read as the names of programs it offers. The letter also questioned whether interim library volunteers have undergone background checks, were qualified to work with children and whether patrons’ data were securely stored at the interim library.
Separately, a lawsuit brought by supporters of the Rockrimmon Library, accusing the PPLD of violating open meetings laws, is moving through the courts.
Despite the lawsuit and the tone of the letter, COS Reads has said it wants the PPLD to reopen a library in northwestern Colorado Springs – and has noted that the premises which housed Rockrimmon Library for 35 years are still vacant.
