No new downtown Boise library, and the old one needs work. Here’s what may come next
Boise’s main library is going to need an update soon, and it’s not clear what that will look like.
The main library, located at 715 S. Capitol Blvd., is in “good to fair” shape, according to studies done by library officials, but it needs some improvements. The roof needs to be replaced. The exterior grout needs attention. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is at the end of its useful life. The 1940s-era plumbing is beginning to fail.
“Operations and maintenance folks are just kind of chasing leaks throughout the building, so I think a full investment in plumbing would be due at some point,” Shawn Wilson, Boise Public Works assistant facility program manager, told the City Council during a work session Tuesday.
For a while, some of those problems could be deferred. Boise officials planned for years to build a new main library in a new building where the current one stands. It was intended to become a jewel of downtown with state-of-the-art facilities,designed by a world-renowned architect.
But it had a more than $100 million price tag. Amid opposition, it was delayed last summer by former Boise Mayor David Bieter, who had championed it. Then, in November, voters ousted Bieter and passed an ordinance to require library projects costing more than $25 million to be approved in a citywide election. After that, Bieter called for “an immediate reset” on the project, and soon after, the library’s director retired.
Just as officials of new Mayor Lauren McLean’s administration began talking to stakeholders last winter to find a path forward, the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country.
That has led to confusion for the Boise Public Library Board of Trustees — which establishes library policies, handles the properties and works on budgets — about what to do next.
Margo Healy, president of the trustees, noted that the ordinance makes it unclear how, if at all, the city could move forward with a new library or on other projects. Both Wilson and Healy said that would need to be worked out before any major projects could advance.
David Klinger, spokesperson for Boise Working Together, the community group that whose ordinance requiring a citywide election on library spending was enacted by voters in November, said the group’s attorney is scheduled to meet with city lawyers later this week to discuss the ordinance.
While the city works to better understand the ordinance, the board and Wilson recommended that the city get started on a new strategic plan, which could allow for small fixes at the main library and identify what larger investments are needed for both the downtown location and the Boise branches.
The City Council largely agreed. Several members pointed to the fact that once a new library director is hired — possibly in November, Healy said — that person would be crucial to forming the strategic plan.
Klinger said Boise Working Together members should be included in the planning process.
“We gotta get this right, and it’s got to be correct and it’s got to be grounded in reality, not in fantasy,” Klinger said Wednesday by phone. “We did this city a tremendous favor with that vote in November. ... Whatever project that is pursued needs to happen as the result of a plan that brings everyone along.”
Council member T.J. Thomson said that while that plan is worked on, he supports making investments needed in the library system. Council member Patrick Bageant said he wants to make sure those investments buy the city the time it needs to “create a plan to execute a library that’s going to fit our community best for a long period of time.”
What exactly those investments look like is unclear, but Wilson and the board offered a few examples. It could mean finding a new space for Friends of the Boise Public Library, a fundraising group that supports the library and takes up much of the main library’s fourth floor. It also could mean investment in branch libraries, with specifics to be worked out in a strategic plan.
Council member Jimmy Hallyburton said officials have to be sure “we’re creating space for evolution,” adapting for libraries will be expected to offer in the future.
“If there’s anything to be learned during this time of COVID-19, it’s that we’ve discovered where are the gaps in service, the gaps in accessibility that some of our community members have,” said council member Lisa Sánchez, talking about her own experiences in using the library to access computers when she did not have a personal one.
“When I think about our library, I think of not only is it a place for our folks to come and enjoy all the wonderful offerings that it has, but for some of our community members, it is a life-saving resource. ... If there’s any way we can move quickly on this, that would be great.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
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