For 67 years our local library has served the community but today, the building has come to the end of its functional life and must be replaced. Lack of gathering space limits even the most basic of library functions, such as story time. Front doors that don’t open and aisles that are too narrow create accessibility challenges
Even though the minimum space requirement for Oregon public libraries is set for 6,660 square feet, the Grant County Library operates with only 4,100 square feet of space. Our circulation desk is a donated hand-me-down from the former newspaper office.
“The Grant County Library currently meets only the very lowest threshold of standards for Oregon public libraries...it is deficient in facility size, periodical/reference collection, ADA compliance and building safety considerations.”
–PreDesign Report,
Skelton Straus Seibert, 2016
“It is so crammed with books that it allows very little room for anything else needed in a properly functioning library.”
—Report and NeedsAssessment,
Libraries of Eastern Oregon, 2005
The way libraries serve communities today is so much more than it was when our library was built 65 years ago.
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Libraries are places of information, offering people free access to a wealth of information that they often can’t find elsewhere, whether online, in print or in person.
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Libraries are community hubs, safe havens for kids and places older adults stay engaged in a digital world.
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Libraries are places for community engagement. The way people are using our libraries is changing as fast as technology is changing society. Libraries are becoming a place for creation and collaboration.