by Dennis Dalman
The Great River Regional Library is gearing up for a new branch library – one in Sartell – but the GRRL staff can’t roll up its sleeves to go to work until two things are known: site and design.
On a split vote, the GRRL Board approved a branch library for Sartell several months ago. The current task is for GRRL staff to work with Sartell to design a library that will meet the requirements of a GRRL branch facility. Plans call for a library to be included as one of the amenities in a Sartell Community Center.
Mark Bromenschenkel, president and chair of the GRRL Board, is excited about a Sartell branch library, something he has advocated in Sartell as a board member and as the current Stearns County District 2 commissioner and resident of LeSauk Township.
“A library is long overdue and will be used greatly by Sartell,” Bromenschenkel said in a July 28 interview with the Sartell Newsleader.
He noted the Sartell branch library will become a prototype in many respects for libraries of the future because it will be equipped with state-of-the-art digital technology, as well as the usual paper items found in libraries – books, magazines, newspapers and documents.
The GRRL, Bromenschenkel said, will provide all of the materials for the library and the staff. All that Sartell has to do is provide the building, the wiring, furniture, maintenance and appropriate spaces required in a library, such as rooms for staff and study rooms. The GRRL would provide all the computers, the servers and related computer services.
First things first
There are many things yet to be determined before a branch library can be realized in Sartell, according to GRRL Executive Director Karen Pundsack. Chief among them is a location for the facility. Once that is decided, there are many more things to be taken into consideration – mainly how the spaces in a library will be designed.
“We need to know location first,” Pundsack said. “We need to know the size and the scope of the building and how the library will fit with other things in the community center. Will the spaces be shared with other functions within the building?”
Pundsack has discussed those needs with Sartell City Administrator Mary Degiovanni. She has also heard from Murray Mack, the architect hired by the city to help plan and design a community center with a library in it. Pundsack said she will meet soon with Mack so he can be aware of branch-library needs in designing the various spaces for such a facility.
Recently, the Sartell City Council narrowed its preferred sites for a community center from eight to three: an area south of PineCone Marketplace near Pinecone Road S., a site along Heritage Drive and a site just north of Pinecone Central Park.
Pundsack said libraries within community centers can work very well, such as at the Becker Community Center and one in St. Michael where the library is part of a building that also contains a senior center and all-purpose community center.
Branch libraries vary widely in size, Pundsack noted. Many are quite small, from 1,000 to 3,000 square feet, such as the one in Waite Park. The St. Cloud Library, by comparison, is 100,000 square feet. Pundsack also noted many libraries that became GRRL branch libraries already had materials to help stock the collections. Sartell does not.
“There’s a lot of community support for a library in Sartell,” Pundsack said. “So I suspect there will be some fundraising once it (a library) becomes a reality.”
She echoed Bromenschenkel’s comments about a Sartell branch library becoming a prototype for future libraries. It will, for example, likely have a self-service check-out section and an automated book return service of some sort. How the space is designed will very much affect what will be offered at the branch library, she emphasized. Even a factor such as how much “foot traffic” there is at the site will affect services offered, she added.
Pundsack said the GRRL and the city cannot enter into any agreements until a solid plan for the site and design become definite.
“It’s kind of a chicken-or-egg problem at this point,” she said.
The GRRL system
Sartell will become the 34th city to have a GRRL branch.
The GRRL serves the six-county area of Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright. Its branch libraries are in the following cities: Albany, Annandale, Becker, Belgrade, Big Lake, Buffalo, Clearwater, Cokato, Cold Spring, Delano, Eagle Bend, Elk River, Foley, Grey Eagle, Howard Lake, Kimball, Little Falls, Long Prairie, Melrose, Monticello, Paynesville, Pierz, Richmond, Rockford, Royalton, St. Cloud, St. Michael, Sauk Centre, Staples, Swanville, Upsala and Waite Park. The GRRL’s website, with its many interactive services, is considered its 33rd “branch” site.
The GRRL was formed on Sept. 25, 1969, at that time for a four-county area: Benton, Morrison, Stearns and Wright. Later, Sherburne and Todd counties were added.
The system is made possible via a funding partnership between government agencies and private donors. The primary funding is from the six participating counties. Additional essential funding is provided by local, state and federal funds such as the Library Services and Technology Act and by contributions from individuals and organizations.
The GRRL has nearly one million items that can be checked out by its 125,000 registered borrowers in a 5,000-square-mile area of Minnesota.
Many kinds of services and activities are offered at GRRL branch libraries. They include poetry readings and poetry contests, arts-and-crafts classes, art and photography exhibits, special town meetings, music programs, movie nights, dance clinics, book-discussion groups, library “camps,” guest speakers, educational programs and much more.