Three library consulting firms are scheduled to be interviewed in April as the city decides on the next steps for the undersized but popular Longmont Public Library.
An interview panel will quiz the prospective consultants during the second week of April. The panel will include the library management team of Karen Roney, the city’s head of Community Services; Longmont Museum Director Kim Manajek; the president of the Library Board and the president of the Friends of the Library, Library Director Nancy Kerr said in an email.
The new consultant, once picked, will continue the work done by Kimberly Bolan and Associates, which in 2019 conducted a community survey in English and Spanish and collected 1,500 responses.
Kimberly Bolan consultants found the library is heavily used by the community and popular among patrons. They also found the library, at 409 Fourth Ave., a block east of downtown, at about 51,000 square feet, was built for a population of about 68,000, Roney told the Leader in a September email.
The city’s population in 2020 was more than 98,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
The consultants estimate the library should be at least 85,000 square feet. A library built up to 100,000-square-feet would be big enough to handle Longmont’s future growth, Roney said.
Kimberly Bolan consultants also said the library needs more funding to bolster its number of digital holdings and expand library hours and activities.
A new consulting firm is needed since Kimberly Bolan was not able to finish its work with the advent of COVID-19, Kerr said.
Just over $35,000 of the original $50,000 budget was paid to Kimberly Boland and Associates, Kerr said. An additional $50,000 has been allotted for the second phase of the library study. All three of the consultants’ proposals are under that amount, she said.
The new consultant will take all the comparative data and community input gathered from Kimberly Bolan consultants, crunch the data and make projections, she said.
The consultant will determine “what does the community want and need from its library moving forward, how much does that cost, what are some ways to afford necessary expansion or improvements, and what types of models for library service will work best for the future of Longmont’s library,” Kerr said.
Kimberly Bolan and Associates was hired after discussions began in 2019 about forming a tax-supported library district. The consultants said a library district is not currently needed but a district could be needed if the community feels the city isn’t supporting the library and staff.
