Donation of $40k from the volunteer run nonprofit helped prevent cuts to library hours, while it spurs more community programming.
When the costs to make renovations to the new Oak Creek Library building were over budget by about $40,000, members of the South Routt Library Board started to think about making cuts in order to balance the budget.
The library moved to its new home on Main Street in Oak Creek in 2021 and was taking on renovations to the outside of the building and improvements inside such as a mural depicting the Yampa River before Stagecoach Reservoir was built. As those improvements neared completion, the shortfall was mounting.
Enter South Routt Library Friends, a non-profit started in 2021 to support the libraries in Oak Creek and Yampa, which was able to cover the full shortfall for the South Routt Library District.
“We had discussions about how to support the library in other ways… should we cut some hours? How could we financially get by this fiscal year?” said Kasey O’Halloran, president of the South Routt Library District Board. “The Friends group really helped the library stay at the rate it’s currently at.”
When South Routt Library Friends started, organizers never had the intention of supporting capital projects like building renovations. Instead, the intention has been to help bring in community programming to the district’s libraries in Oak Creek and Yampa, which get funding from local property taxes and has the budget to pay just two employees.
One of those programs has been the Missoula Children’s Theatre, which sees the Montana-based group come to town for a week to produce a whole musical with local students. Susan Albers, who sits on the board of South Routt Library Friends, said it had been a significant expenditure for the group, but was well worth it as South Routt doesn’t have any other theatre program.
“That is an opportunity that these kids would not have if it wasn’t for the Library Friends group,” Albers said.
Lindsay Rocks, another Library Friends board member, said other community events have included talks about astronomy or gardening as well as visits from speakers such as Olympic Snowboarder Riley Jacobs, who is originally from Oak Creek. The Friends group also has a board member, Mandy Maass, who has been able to get grant funding for some of the cultural programs like the Children’s Theatre.
“Some of those don’t take a lot of money and I think when the Library Friends began, we never expected to have the kind of funding to be able to help out [with capital projects],” Rocks said. “This community really loves its library.”
Rocks said donations have come from a few really generous donors and a lot of folks in the community who have given what they can — “Maybe it’s not a lot, but it’s a lot of people,” she said.
O’Halloran said the Friends Group has helped the library do more than its budget would typically allow and further its mission to support literacy. As South Routt sees growth, particularly in the Stagecoach Area, the Library is an important community institution, she said.
“Why go above and beyond? Because we are creating readers,” O’Halloran said. “Literacy is our main goal. At the end of the day, everyone’s main goal is the importance of literacy.”