Big Check Event!

Friends of the Juneau Public Libraries,

Members and former members alike, please join me in a BIG CHECK conveyance event at the Amazing Bookstore (get directions) next Friday (2/8) at 10 am. A photographer from the Empire will be on hand to record the conveyance of the first $250,000 check to the CBJ of the Friends promised $1,000,000 contribution toward the design and construction of the New Valley Library. It would be great if everyone who has contributed their time and efforts (including current and former board members and bookstore volunteers) towards reaching this historic milepost could be on hand to share in the credit.

 Thank You,

 Paul Berans- Board President, Friends of the Juneau Public Libraries

Highlights About the Dimond Park Library Project

Substantial Funding is in Place.  

The Timing of the Project is Critical

u	If the city does not provide a match for the DCED grant funds, the $7 Million will be lost.
u	The state grant requires that substantial continuing progress be made on the project in order to retain grant funds, which must be fully expended within 5 years from July 1, 2012.
u	Due to construction lead times there is a relatively small window for starting the project so that it can be completed within the five year time frame required by the grant.
u	To meet these deadlines, the new library must be included on this year’s sales tax ballot.

The Library Serves All of Juneau

The Valley is the busiest of all of the Juneau Public Libraries.
u	23,029 (74%) of Juneau’s population hold Juneau Public Libraries cards.  – Valley registrations are 49% of the total.
u	Public libraries visits totaled 334,400 last year. With 184,000 (55%) visits make the Valley library the busiest branch, despite the large number of summer visitors downtown.
u	The Valley library directly serves an area that is home to 56% of  the Juneau population.
u	Valley population of children under age 5 is 61% of the Juneau total and the valley population of K-12 age children and teens is also 61%.
u	More than 190 organizations used the Valley meeting space in the past year, and this number increases every year.
u	The Valley library has the least space per user served of  any of the libraries in Juneau .

The New Library Will Save the City Money

There are high operating costs for remaining in the mall location.
u	By the end of the current 3-year lease, the city will have spent more than $6,500,000* on rent since the Valley Library opened in the mall in 1983.
u	Annual rent  will be $198,000 in FY13 and $204,000 in FY14, and rising every year.
u	Since FY08 the rent for the mall space has increased 21%--far more than the rate of inflation.
u	Beginning in FY13, the amount of rent each year will be more than is spent on books, computers, subscriptions, online resources and supplies for all three libraries.
u	When budgets must be reduced, the library must cut hours and resources that directly serve the public, while the rent has continues to increase. This is at the expense of all the libraries, not just the Valley.
	* 2010 dollars. Statistical Abstract of the United States.  Actual = $4,916,134
The new library will save operating costs.
u	The new library will be staffed at the same level as the existing Valley Library.
u	The new library will be energy efficient.
u	Utilities and maintenance that are now included in the rent will increase at a rate that is less than the rate of increase in rent payments. This difference will be greater over time.
u	The new library is projected to save $30,000 - $40,000 per year in operating expenses over the cost of operating the rental facility.

Valley Library users in their own words:

“The value of libraries lies as much in creating public spaces and building communities as it does in lending books and providing information.  More and more places require you to pay a fee, or at least spend money, before you are welcome.  In a library, you are welcome regardless of who you are or whether you have money to spend.  You are equally welcome to come through the door for whatever reason brings you there. “

“It’s hard to use just a few words or sentences to express my feelings about a real Valley Library-not a shop in the mall- well maybe that says it all. It doesn't feel like a library to me. I've been waiting for the Valley Library since shortly after I moved here in 1989. I wanted a Valley library even more when I found that all the money being paid out was not staying in town. “

“It is long overdue and I was surprised (and dismayed) at how much  money the city has paid in rent to the mall since 1983 (over $6.5  million dollars!). It only makes sense for the Valley Library to have  its own space. …  It will be wonderful to have a true community library whose hours are not tied to the mall's hours.”

View the full library presentation to PWFC here.

Our New Valley Library Needs your Support

[From the Friends of JPL March Newsletter]

No doubt you have heard of the push underway to finally give a permanent home to the Valley Library,
which would be located in Dimond Park.  There are two hurdles that must first be overcome:

1. Secure grant funding for half of the project costs from the State under the Public Library Construction Grant Program 
2. Become successful in having the New Valley Library Project added to the next 1% CBJ Special Project Sales Tax bundle and the subsequent passing of said bundle on the ballot in the fall

Our current “temporary” facility has been located in rented space in the mall since 1983.   Over that
time frame the City has paid more than $6.5 million dollars in rent.  Although the population of the
Mendenhall Valley has more than doubled in that time, the library has only 300 more square feet than
it did 29 years ago.

The facility has no outside entrance, limiting library access to mall hours and reducing programming options. The facility is only minimally ADA compliant.  Lighting, electrical and structural deficiencies limit collection size, programming space, and placement of technology.
Construction of a city-owned library in the Mendenhall Valley has been a community goal since the
early 1980’s.  Land has been designated for a library on the Dimond Park site since the city first purchased the site. The Friends of the Juneau Public Libraries and the Juneau Public Library Endowment Fund have committed $1.3 million to this project. If you have the opportunity, please speak of your support for this project to CBJ Assembly members and State Legislators.

Jeff Vogt 
President, Friends Board


Track Senate Bill 160 (SB160) the Alaska Capital Budget which will determine final funding for the Library Construction and Major Expansion Grant.

Alaska Library Association: Advocacy and Legislative Priorities

AK State Legislators: Juneau
Sen. Egan
Rep. Kerttula
Rep. Munoz


CBJ Assembly, contact 

Resolution Passed by Assembly

We made it over another hurdle!  The CBJ Assembly approved Resolution 2590 authorizing The Manager To Submit To The Alaska Department Of Commerce, Community, And Economic Development An Application For A Library Construction And Major Expansion Matching Grant For Construction Of A Valley Branch Library At Dimond Park.   


Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting and to all those who worked the phones beforehand.  There was a great turnout of library friends in the chambers and we look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions at the next public meeting on Monday October 24th, 5:30 at the Valley Library.  Now it's time to get the grant writing wrapped up!    

Public Works & Facilities Committee Meeting

·         The Public Works and Facilities Committee meeting (at noon on Monday in the Assembly chambers) will review the resolution that approves submitting a library construction grant application to DCED and then vote on whether to send the resolution forward to the whole Assembly at their October 17^th meeting.