Little library that could dedicates addition

By Linda Bell
Correspondent

Working down to the wire to rearrange furniture, shelve books, wash windows, clear away empty boxes and vacuum, volunteers of the Red Feather Lakes Community Library made the Aug. 27 deadline for the official opening of a new addition.

"It was pretty amazing," said Sarah Myers, library director, who took up her post a few weeks earlier. She said everyone pulled together, excited to see how it would all come out.

"I couldn't have stopped them from finishing if I'd wanted to," Myers said. "It was like watching a group of people unwrap a present, as they admired each small area of the library as it fell into its finished form."

Judy Corwin, a long time library volunteer, said the dedication ceremony was much more emotional than anyone expected, probably because everyone was so happy, but also because it marked transitions in the community, including some leave-takings and memorials.

"Plus, once we were all seated for the dedication, just after the opening remarks, a bald eagle flew low over our heads, sending shivers down our spines," Corwin said. "We all took it as a good omen."

The new $300,000 addition includes two much-needed offices for library employees, the Stenzel community room with media and kitchen facilities, a children's library, a small art gallery called Ruth's Gallery for the late Ruth Kevan, three handicapped accessible restrooms and added storage space.

The addition doubles the old library's square footage and was completely pledged ahead of time from money raised within the community and grants from various organizations. The largest grants, ranging from $15,000 and $50,000, came from the Stenzel Family Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, El Pomar Foundation, Boettcher Foundation and the Bohemian Foundation, according to Marilyn Colter, former library director who helped spearhead the building campaign.

Ann Smythe, vice president of the library board, described the library in her remarks at the dedication as the "little library that could." Giving a comprehensive history of the library, she chronicled how it got started through the persistence of a few women in the community like Mary Stenzel, Kathy Morissette and Nita Raney.

It all began in 1969 when women from the Mountain Gals asked the county library to extend bookmobile services to Red Feather Lakes. The effort failed, however, when the bookmobile was unable to get up McNey Hill on the way to the village.

Soon afterwards a number of serendipitous events led to the Larimer County library director suggesting the women start a library in Red Feather Lakes. The county library was combining with the Fort Collins library, and there were excess books as a result of the merger. On Nov. 4, 1969, a 200-book collection housed in the basement of the Property Owner's Association building became the Red Feather Lakes Library.

Smythe said Mary Stenzel expressed the wish that the library have its own building, and after her death, the Mary Stenzel Foundation was established in her memory. Her husband, Ray Stenzel, said if the community would help, he would provide aid from the foundation for a library building. The POA donated land for the building and, with the help of many dedicated volunteer laborers, the new library opened its doors on July 7, 1988, staffed by volunteers and financially supported through activities of the Friends of the Library.

By 1994, Smythe said, the library was operating on a $30,000 annual budget that came from the county, local citizens and the Friends of the Library. At the time, she said, it was the only public library in Colorado without a library director. The board successfully petitioned the county commissioners for a one-year grant to hire a part-time director, Smythe recalled, but at the meeting a commissioner asked library representative Della Frydendall what they would do when the grant ran out. Frydendall boldly replied, "We will find some angels."

Smythe said that's what she did. Frydendall, along with Maryanne Lyon and Jean Porter, formed a committee to recruit a number of citizens to pledge up to $1,000 a year for five years to assist with the director's salary. The board hired Marilyn Colter as part-time library director in 1995.

In 1999, the county commissioners announced that after 2001 the county would no longer provide funds to the six county libraries. If Red Feather Lakes Library was to survive, it would need more than angels - it would need a tax-supported library district.

In November 2000, after a successful campaign headed by Bob Kevan, citizens approved the Mountain Library District by a 2-to-1 margin, assuring financial support for the library. As a result of the district's formation, Smythe said, library use shot up, hours extended, Colter became a full-time director and the board hired Karen Deane as full-time children's program director.

Welcoming the library's new director, Smythe said, "I know that with her leadership, and because of the spirit and support of this mountain community, the library will continue to endure and prosper in the days ahead."