News : Garrison library leaders seek funding for new building

Garrison leaders seek funding for a new library; the July storm destroyed the city's old building.

Things were finally looking up for the Garrison library in the early summer of 2011, says Christy Leckband. The Garrison Library Board met in June to discuss the challenges of recent years.

One librarian retired. Her replacement died suddenly. Another librarian embezzled several thousand dollars during 2010, giving the library board some legal challenges and publicity it did not need.

It took months of recovery for the library board to get through these challenges; insurance funds replaced much of what had been stolen.

"During our June 2011 meeting, we were talking about the things we had been through, and how things were finally looking good for our future," Leckband told the Benton County Supervisors on Tuesday.

Then the roof blew off the building.

Damaged beyond repair during the July 11 storm, the library is once again the main challenge facing Garrison residents (who are also working on rebuilding their Emergency Services Building, which was also heavily damaged by that storm).

Leckband and Betty Hendryx, the long-time librarian who retired a few years ago, spoke to the supervisors about the efforts to raise funds for a new library building.

Leckband also told them how important the library is to Garrison. It's the place for kids to go after school, before their parents come home. It's also where many of the historic documents from the City of Garrison as well as historic items from the Garrison school had been stored.

Those things are now being kept in homes of some Garrison residents, said Leckband.

A small room has been set up at St. Mark's Lutheran Church for library services. A couple of computers are available, and a few books and DVDs are rotated through.

But, she said, the city needs a permanent library building.

The tentative plan is to build a new library on the site of the old Old Creamery Theater. The building would be approximately 62 by 28 feet, and have a walk-out basement with a door leading to the Old Creamery Nature Trail. The estimated cost is around $200,000, with approximately $100,000 available in funding from the library building insurance settlement. A Cedar Rapids company has expressed interested in offering design services pro bono. A Georgia organization has given the Garrison leaders a sample building design plan that they can use in their grant applications.

Leckband told the supervisors that so far, the library building fund includes approximately $13,000 in private donations and one pledged grant. Area businesses and Garrison alumni have received letters telling them about the library's need.

The supervisors told Leckband that the funding Garrison receives from the county -- approximately $8,000 per year, including funds from the local option sales tax -- could be used for the new library building. In most years, that money covers operating expenses.

Leckband and Hendryx also discussed several other possible grant donors they are trying to contact. The Garrison Betterment Committee has a 501 (c) 3 status for non-profits that the library board can use for fund-raising. A new web site for the library fund-raising is now in use. See that site HERE.