Residents told a consultant recently that a library district or annexation into the High Plains Library District or another existing district could be a sustainable funding source of the existing Longmont Library.
The residents, called stakeholders by the consultants, said if the city does not want to increase library funding and provide a dedicated funding source, it was the city’s obligation to support a different model for the facility, according to the consultants report.
Besides a library district, other funding models proposed by residents include a county-or-city-governed Early Childhood Education District, creation of a county library, a city-governed Cultural District and becoming part of a joint library with the St. Vrain Valley School District.
The report by Sieger Consulting is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday night by the city council during a work session. The report picks up from previous work done by Kimberly Bolan & Associates in 2019, according to a city staff report.
The Seiger report also analyzed potential library service models and financial tools, establishing baseline and preferred level of service standards, the city staff report states.
The Seiger report studied and compared peer libraries in Colorado in order to estimate how much increased funding the library needs today, the staff report states.
The consultants say that since 2010, when normalized for inflation, library expenditures have been decreasing. The library has had to maintain its current level of service with fewer and fewer resources while the cost of service has increased, the report states.
