WESTERN SKIES - May 21, 2005

*** WESTCLIFFE LIBRARY***

ERIC WHITNEY: It's been almost six months since folks in Westcliffe have been able to go to the library. That's because after a long capital campaign, the old one was being renovated and expanded. So when the West Custer County Library re-opened, it was a pretty big deal for the little town. Shanna Lewis captured the excitement.

SHANNA LEWIS: On a warm Saturday afternoon, people of all ages overflow from the sidewalk and out onto Main Street in downtown Westcliffe. Neighbors and friends greet and catch up with each other as they wait for the cornerstone laying ceremony that will mark the re-opening of the community's library.

[sound of music and singing]

LEWIS: Members of The Grand Lodge of Colorado Freemasons have come from around the state to perform the ancient symbolism-filled ritual.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Brother senior grand warden it has been the custom among the Fraternity of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons from time immemorial and by invitation to assemble the craft and lay with appropriate ceremonies the foundation stones of public edifices. It is my order therefore that the cornerstone of this building now be tested and tried and laid in due and ancient Masonic form.

LEWIS: The library in Westcliffe grew over the years from a small collection of books in a corner of the county courthouse into an overflowing building on Main Street. Three years ago the ladies of the civic association donated the adjacent community building. Then came two and half years of fundraising, says library director, Marty Frick.

MARTY FRICK: The community just came out and supported us in every way possible some donations were seven dollars some were seven thousand, but it worked out over the course of less than a year and a half.

LEWIS: The Friends of the Library raised some six hundred thirty thousand dollars through donations from individuals, families, and grants from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the Gates Family Foundation, the Adolph Coors Foundation, the Boettcher Foundation, El Pomar and the Wet Mountain Valley Community Foundation.

FRICK: We feel really lucky to serve this community it's a great community all told three hundred fifty people contributed time and money to the building. That's ten percent of the whole community. So we feel that we are for the people and by the people for sure.

LEWIS: The new forty-six hundred square foot library houses over eleven thousand titles. Besides many more books; there's a brand new children's area, a browsing section, a history center and additional computer stations.

FRICK: Libraries in small rural communities mean something different from the meaning of libraries in large urban areas. In large urban areas people have more of a choice, they can go to a library, they can go buy a book, they can go see a movie, they have a lot of things they can do to stimulate them. We have three thousand patrons--twenty nine hundred plus plus patrons--a large percentage of those patrons have no other resources. Their kids don't have computers their families don't have books at home they don't have access to the kind of music we have here so for them we're it.

LEWIS: It's truly a gathering place and a hub for activity for this tiny community of some thirty-three hundred year-round residents, who have been without a library since construction started in early January. In the summer some three hundred people a day use the facility. Although libraries are usually thought of as quiet places this one is often filled with the sound of happy voices.

PEOPLE IN THE LIBRARY: "This library is an extraordinary resource for such a tiny town."

"I think its very beautiful much more space, I like the way its arranged."

"It's big."

"I'm so thrilled with the spaciousness, the room to sit and read, armchairs its like real reading room in the old sense."

"It's really awesome and I love books so I love libraries."

"I think its great I think its absolutely great and it's a good place its good for the kids."

"I think its wonderful I always like to see something like this I never mind paying my taxes when it goes for something worthwhile like this."

"It is absolutely gorgeous and I'm so glad to have it back."

"It's fantastic."

"We think its absolutely fabulous."

LEWIS: In addition to opening the library, the Freemasons also placed a time capsule prepared by the Custer County Historical and Genealogical Society.

The forty minute dedication ceremony wound down with the entire crowd participating in a Masonic ritual--three claps to the left, three to the right and three to the left.

LEWIS: For Western Skies I'm Shanna Lewis in Westcliffe, Colorado.

WHITNEY: And that wraps up this edition of Western Skies, thanks for tuning in. Stephen Raher is our associate producer, Jon Wilson is our soon-to-depart intern and Delaney Utterback runs the website. Be sure and tune in next week for a half hour special on this year's Colorado legislative session.