Bond vote puts library plans on hold

By ALEX STRICKLAND - Bigfork Eagle

With the failure of the Bigfork High School bond initiative in last week's election, the future of the Bigfork branch of the Flathead County Library is suddenly cloudy.

The plan had been for the branch to move out of its downtown location adjacent to the Bigfork Art and Cultural Center and into a shared facility at the newly renovated high school building. The shared-use library had gained traction in the community and was widely seen as a cost-effective alternative that has proven successful in other rural communities around Montana.

"We don't have a contingency plan," said Flathead County Library Director Kim Crowley. "We were really hoping for that bond to pass."

The Flathead County Library system has branches in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Bigfork, and a small facility in Marion along with the main library in Kalispell.

"We had a space needs study done three years ago and then updated last year," Crowley said. "We were told we needed to double the size of the Bigfork library to accommodate growth over the next 20 years."

The Bigfork Branch currently has a little more than 1,400 square feet of space and Crowley said they'd like to have a 4,000 square foot facility.

For the time being, Crowley said, it's a waiting game to see if the Bigfork School Board tries to revive the bond issue or if the library should continue looking for a new home.

"We'll stay in our current location," she said. "We'll possibly spend some money trying to spiff that up a bit."

Some of that "spiffing" could include a new coat of paint and some new shelving for the media selections.

There are approximately 9,000 items in at the Bigfork branch, but Crowley pointed out that there are plenty more available thanks to a statewide network of libraries.

"We easily move books around the state via the bus," she said. "Our library users have access to over 500,000 items with the click of a mouse."