Lack of space an issue at city library

The Library Foundation continues to raise money to pay for expansion.

After three and a half years, the Bella Vista Library Foundation hasn’t given up. The capital campaign to fund an addition to the Bella Vista Library at the cost of about $4 million is still going strong, Foundation President Susan Santos said.

The library started out as a nonprofit and the library Board of Trustees raised the funds for the current building which was complete in 1996. In 2014, the city took the library operations over, but the Foundation still owns the building. In order to expand the building, the Foundation must raise the funds. And they must have the full amount on hand before work can begin.

The city may help with furnishings, since the city owns the library's collection and furniture, Santos said.

The new addition will include a large community room and the children’s department will be able to expand, Children’s Librarian Ellen Farwell said. Weekly Storytime has already outgrown the space in the center of the children’s area and they have moved to the space in the back.

When a unicyclist came to perform as part of the Summer Reading Program, he had only a few feet to demonstrate his skill, she said.

That area has to be rearranged every day, she added, since it’s the only space for groups ranging from the knitters and crochets to the Genealogy Group. When the library hosts a program like a local author or speaker, the same space must be reconfigured again. When not in use, stacks of chairs line one wall because there is not place to store them out of sight.

With the crowding comes some noise issues, Farwell said. Some residents are looking for a quiet spot to do volunteer tutoring and some businesses use the space to give tests. Those users really need a quiet space and that’s just not available.

The work room that five employees share is also an issue.

“It’s like a dance,” she said, about moving through the crowded space.

The volunteer group, the Friends of the Library, is helping raise funds, President Janel Stryker said. They used to fund some library operations, but now that the city pays those bills, all their fundraising is focused on the building fund. Since many of the Friends also volunteer at the front desk, they appreciate the need for more space especially for meetings and tutoring. She said she hears many patrons comment on the crowded parking lot.

Farwell also commented on the parking lot which gets even worse when Library events move outside. For some children’s events, they need the outside area so the parking lot gets even smaller and patrons end up parking on the driveway and walking. Some walk all the way from the church parking lot on Lancashire

In 2011 the Foundation hired architect Marlon Blackwell to design the addition and started raising funds.

“We said it would take three to five years,” Santos remembered. But in the beginning, they were counting on some major grants.

“We’ve reached the conclusion that some of the major grant opportunities are not going to happen for us,” she said. Although they have received some grant money, it was not close to the amount the board had hoped.

The organizations that fund the grants have become more focused, Santos said.

“We just don’t match their profile,” she said.

Smaller fundraisers are still going on, she said, although each brings in only a small amount. Memorial bricks that line the new sidewalk to the new entrance are selling, she said. There are plenty left.

An event is planned for Veterans Day, she said. It’s a ticketed event with a Rogers chef who cooks at the library as she talks about her methods. There are enough samples available to call it a dinner, Santos said.

The annual fundraising letter is going out, Santos said, and that’s a good fundraiser for the library.

“When we break ground on this thing, we will be able to say the majority of funds come from the people of Bella Vista,” she said.