by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A two-hour sharing of ideas about the potential for a Sartell library of one kind or another led to a consensus statement after the joint meeting Oct. 21 at Sartell City Hall.
Those who attended the meeting expressed confidence there may be a way for Sartell to get a good library, even if it’s not as large or as full-service as required under current GRRL parameters. GRRL is currently working on an assessment plan that will take several months. After that plan is completed, the GRRL will likely have options for compromise in order to create some kind of viable Sartell library.
Five days after the Oct. 21 meeting, Sartell Mayor Sarah Jane Nicoll read the consensus at the Sartell City Council meeting. (See below.)
Those who attended the Oct. 21 joint meeting were the following: representing the City of Sartell were Mayor Nicoll, city-council member David Peterson and city administrator Mary Degiovanni; representing the Great River Regional Library system were library director Karen Pundsack and staff members Jamie Trenam and Julie Henne; and representing Sartell Friends of the Library were members Nancy Van Erp, Paul Moe and Joe Perske.
It was Peterson and Friends of the Library who, weeks ago, urged the council to meet with GRRL, and the consensus of the council agreed a joint meeting would be a good idea.
The meeting was not a public meeting, and no votes were taken, nor any formal action initiated.
At the Oct. 26 council meeting, both Nicoll and Peterson said they thought the joint meeting was a good, productive one.
“I’m looking forward to having another meeting set,” Peterson said. “It was good at least to get together.”
This is the consensus statement, the result of the Oct. 21 meeting, which was read aloud by Mayor Nicoll:
“Representatives from the City of Sartell, Great River Regional Library and the Sartell Friends of the Library met on Wednesday, Oct. 21 to discuss an additional location of a Great River Regional Library branch in the City of Sartell. As a group, we came to consensus on the following:
We recognize many Sartell residents have a strong desire for enhanced library services that fit the needs of the future in their community. As taxpayer-funded entities, both the City of Sartell and Great River Regional Library share a fiduciary responsibility to best serve our residents in the most efficient manner possible. Additionally, we recognize many Sartell residents value the access they already have through current GRRL services. We recognize the City of Sartell is undertaking a major project with its community center. We also recognize the City of Sartell will need to focus its current time and resources to complete this project. The current location is not suitable for an additional GRRL library branch to deliver regional library service due to its proximity to existing locations, per GRRL policy. We agree any enhanced library services in the City of Sartell will need to meet the needs of the City of Sartell, GRRL and Sartell residents. We understand GRRL has an existing policy regarding standards for library outlets, including size and distance from other libraries. Sartell has requested GRRL look at different size or service models to meet its needs.
GRRL is undertaking a full evaluation of the models of library service it currently offers and may be forming new alternative services. The City of Sartell may wish to consider these enhanced library service options when they are fully formed. The anticipated completion of this evaluation is the second quarter of 2016. Knowing these existing conditions and limitations, the group will meet after the Great River Regional library assessment project is complete to discuss future options for enhanced library services to the City of Sartell.”
Before the Oct. 26 city-council meeting, three people spoke strongly in favor of a Sartell library during the public forum portion of the meeting.
One of them, a young Sartell girl, said she loves books and libraries and was disappointed when she learned Sartell’s community center will not house such a library. She asked the council to reconsider its decision about the center not having a library.
A woman who has lived in Sartell for 22 years and has three children said she hopes the city can come up with something innovative in the way of library services, even if it’s not as spacious as some would like.
Nancy Van Erp, a member of Sartell Friends of the Library, who also participated in the Oct. 21 joint meeting, noted there are about 4,500 individuals in Sartell who go to the St. Cloud Library or the Waite Park branch library. She said if each of those persons goes just twice a month to those libraries, that’s a total of 9,000 people who leave Sartell and spend money elsewhere during those visits. Thus, she suggested, there is a definite economic impact to be considered, one of the good reasons to have a library in Sartell.
A city’s well-being, Van Erp said, depends upon more than gyms and trails – that reading is important for positive aspects of human development.
“Sartell is a great city,” she said, “and we do have a lot of things that make us a great city, but we have to consider what’s going to round out what we already have, and a library can do that in a much more powerful way than additional gyms and trails and things that only address one part of our wellness, our wholeness . . . There are many voices out here besides mine who are asking for these same things.”
