Thursday, November 24, 2007

Library finds home in Perry Thriftway store

by Sara Peterson-Davis

Seven months ago Beverly Warren was afraid she might have to give up her dream of establishing a library to serve the Perry and Lecompton communities.

Now, Warren and her fellow board members are working furiously to transform the former video department in Perry’s Thriftway store into the Perry Lecompton Public Library.

“We looked at about every empty and vacant space in Perry and Lecompton and this space kept coming up time after time,” said Karla Meyer, a member of the new library’s board.

Board members met with the grocery’s owners and worked out an arrangement for the 25-by-25 foot space.

“Just the fact that they’re willing to give us a chance is encouraging,” Meyer said. “We really want this to be a win-win proposition for us and the for the store.”

The library board plans to open the new library no later than the first week in January. The library has more than 13,000 volumes waiting to be catalogued and shelved. All donated by individuals in the community. If the library fully utilizes its space, Meyer estimates the library will eventually be able to accommodate about 30,000 volumes.

Local businesses and organizations have donated remodeling supplies, shelves, furniture, computers and cataloguing/checkout software for the new library.

The board wasn’t always sure how much support the project had in the community.

“We were told that if we couldn’t get support we would have to abandon the project,” said Warren.

The board sent survey’s home with kindergarten through 4th grade students at Perry-Lecompton Elementary. The survey had a 40 percent response rate and the majority of those were overwhelming positive about the project.

“When we saw that there was that kind of support in such microcosm we were encouraged,” said Meyer.

Plans are for the library to be open 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The board is undecided on Sunday hours.

The library will depend on a volunteer staff. Along with the community members who have stepped forward already, the board continues to recruit volunteers to help out.

“We’re trying to reach out to people interested in volunteering,” Meyer said. “It’s been a challenge to reach all the populations.”

The board hopes to increase the libraries profile in the community with a holiday gift bazaar Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Perry Community Building, next to Golden Pizza. The bazaar will feature arts and crafts vendors in 12 booths. Proceeds from the event will go to offset some of the board’s start-up costs.

The library also plans several book drives in the month of December. Books can be dropped off Dec.12-14 at any Perry-Lecompton school building during normal school hours. On Dec. 15, books can be dropped off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lecompton Community Center. On Dec. 16, they can be dropped off at the Perry Community Building from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

With a permanent location, the library will be able to move its children’s story time program from the Methodist churches in Perry and Lecompton to the new location and begin to applying for grant money. A friends of the library group is already in the works.

Eventually, board members would like to create a wireless Internet hot spot in the library, as well as genealogy and local history sections.

In these last weeks before opening the doors, library volunteers hope to find some flooring and more shelving for the library. Then they will move in furniture and start to catalog and barcode books.

“The library has taken on a life of its own these last few weeks,” Meyer said.

For more information about the Perry Lecompton Community Library go to www.PLLibrary.org.