After 6 years of building and operating the library in downtown Lake Elmo, the city and the library board decided to accept the contract negotiated with the county — the main element is a guarantee to keep our library open for at least 40 hours for four years, after that they have no plans to close it, but hours may be reduced in line with other branch’s hours based on circulation and patron visit numbers.
I was part of it from the beginning, and I am supportive of re-entering the county system so all the Lake Elmo residents may have access to the larger system in the metro area and, indeed, the state. The Friends of Lake Elmo Library, a 501c3 charitable non-profit organization will continue with their mission. It was this group that was behind the establishment of the municipal library when the county kept closing our branch.
It was that exciting first year that I remember so well, and have pictures and documentation. Here is the video.
Here are some photos of the amazing remodeling and improvements created since that first year.
First big renovation – computer business out and new expanded children’s library in. (Bob worked on this – removing walls and turned taller shelves into shorter ones for children – Megan Schmidt – David’s daughter painted the tree)
Summer reading programs attracted big crowds of kids to the Lake Elmo Public Library.
The next major renovation – removing a wall and expanding the meeting room complete with first class audio/visual system. Movies with free popcorn are shown most Thursdays at 6pm
Expanded meeting room used for programs
Community involvement and support is high — the benches in the front were an Eagle Scout project.
The most recent and largest renovation included an expanded back lobby and gender neutral private restrooms –(this is my favorite upgrade) ShaneCon Company — locally owned and operated – got the contracts for all the renovations not done by volunteers.