A bit over two years ago, the new Mendenhall Valley Public Library opened its doors. Perhaps it’s time to reflect on its usuage, value to the community and cost to the City and Borough of Juneau.
In its first year, approximately 79,000 people visited the library. That’s more than twice Juneau’s population. A significant proportion were students from the middle and high school, for the numbers spike when school gets out. The schools, swimming pool, arena and now the library have become a valued Juneau resource.
In its first year, about 33,000 more items were checked out than in previous years. This is roughly one for every person in Juneau.
In the previous mall location, there were 546 public meetings attended by 3,151 people. In the first year, the new library hosted 3,920 public meetings attended by 13,444 people. This is more than a seven-fold increase in meetings and over four times the total people.
Previously CBJ was renting the space in the mall from the out-of-state owner. Now, with a building twice the size, a far nicer facility, CBJ has control over the costs, janitorial services and maintenance with a cost savings of $10,000-plus.
For heating, CBJ chose to use a ground source heat pump. The first year the electrical usage was even less than budgeted, about 82 percent.
The new valley library measures up superbly: usage, widespread student use, community center and costs. This win-win became possible because the community, CBJ and State of Alaska all worked together. It is the first CBJ building to receive the “Gold” certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the U.S. Green Building Council.
There is an interesting background history. The Friends of the Library Bookstore (Amazing Book Store) dared to dream that Juneau could have a much improved library in the valley, the population center. This all volunteer-run bookstore began selling books from a dime to a dollar over 25 years ago. Each year, they assisted our public libraries in some way, especially children’s programs. Yet each year they invested some of the earnings with the dream of a new library in the valley. Finally, a door cracked open for a short time: Alaska would pay half for approved new libraries across the state. The Amazing Book Store Board lobbied legislators, funds were promised and provided, the community approved the library on the 1 percent tax voted five years ago, CBJ provided the land, and the Friends of the Library Book Store Board gave more than $1.15 million.
By all working together everyone won. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a lesson here for our state senators and even our nation.
• Paul D. Beran is an almost 25-year Alaska resident and resides in Juneau.
