Rapid City Library’s longevity is lauded
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- Published on Tuesday, November 18, 2014
By Sheila Runions
Banner Staff
On Nov. 2, 1974 Rapid City area residents gathered at their museum to witness the official opening of Rapid City Regional Library. Skyrocketing heating costs, accessibility issues because of its location on the second floor and crowded quarters because of the burgeoning bevy of books, were reasons for construction of a new 38- by 42-foot building on Third Avenue.
The grand opening for the new building was held Nov. 5, 1983 — it was one of the town’s centennial projects. Last Saturday (Nov. 8) was the chosen date to celebrate the library’s 40th anniversary.
Library chairperson Donna Anderson welcomed everyone and gave recognition to board members and councils from the past four decades. Mayor Orest Woloski congratulated all librarians and councils for promoting the library and he commended library staff for their “tremendous” work. Reeve Rob Sharpe hoped it could be used as a “model and perhaps grow and expand to the Oak River area” during the process of amalgamation. He admitted the “future direction of the library will be a challenge” but he hopes a “worthwhile addition for another 40 years.” Brent Fortune is reeve of Oakview, which will encompass Rapid City and Saskatchewan when amalgamation takes effect on Jan. 1. He realized the library was a “great asset to the community and will be a great asset to the new municipality; it will be beneficial to all in the surrounding communities.”
Friends of the Library was recognized for their 15 years of support with only one fundraiser a year — the popular pie social. Currently raising more than $3,000 per event, these funds have been responsible for many “extras” at the library. Librarian Shirley Martin says the building has “morphed into the amazing library it is because of Friends of the Library. They have paid for half of the carpet in our building, which we installed after our addition was built. They’ve bought us a ton of shelves and books, our furniture, the circulation desk, they made decorations for today... While we really appreciate all they do for us, they couldn’t do that if the people did not buy pies. We are really, really lucky to have such great community support.”
And that support was evidenced by the crowd of approximately 75 who attended the anniversary; the grand opening had 100 people sign a guest book. The community also rallied for its library in 2008-10 when a 30-by 32-foot addition was built, under the budget of $100,000. That addition was necessary because the 12,000 books moved from the museum in 1983 continued to multiply and expand, to include videos and computer stations for public Internet use. Today the library has 19,495 loanable items on its shelves. Its basement is home to Rapid City Nursery School, a side office is used by Town of Rapid City, an inside office is used by Senior Services and a number of groups use the old basement space for meetings. Some groups include 4-H, drama, firefighters, museum, chamber, figure skating, golf, etc.
The library has been staffed by five librarians: Margaret Northam (who, along with Morris Stefaniuk, was instrumental in its formation) from 1974-1992, Margo Eckberg from 1992-95, Jodie Amoie from 95-98, Sue Brown from 1998-2002 and Shirley Martin for the last 12 years. Incidentally, both Margo and Shirley worked with Margaret at Rapid City Library. The board has also been blessed with consistency and has had five chairpersons: Allan Westwood, 1974-89, Faye Cornish 1989-95, Patty Johnson 1995-2003, Ron Kingdon 2004-10, Donna Anderson 2010-14.
Cake and coffee was served during the two-hour come and go-style event and Duncan Martin played his violin as background music. A free draw was held on three books; the children’s books were won by Morris Stefaniuk of Dauphin (Three Ninja Pigs) and Gladys Simpson of Rapid City (Little Jack Horner Live from the Corner). Faye Cornish won Devil’s Gate (a Kurt Austin adventure), a novel from NUMA files, by No. 1 New York best-selling authors, Clive Cusser and Graham Brown.
