Mora City Council shares update on library needs analysis study

The Mora City Council shared an update on a needs analysis study for the city's library at Tuesday's meeting.

The study is a joint venture between the city and the East Central Regional Library, with ECRL absorbing 50% of the cost.

City clerk Natasha Segelstrom explained that a facility site assessment has been completed.

"Engineers came out and identified the existing state of the building that we have, and they calculate how much it would cost over a 10 year period to do repairs," Segelstrom said, "Also taking into consideration what it would cost for a new library as well. So that's step one."

At a meeting on Dec. 17, the council voted unanimously to work with BKV on a comprehensive library needs analysis. 

That decision came after mayor Jake Mathison explained that the city was approached by a potential anonymous donor interested in helping to fund a new library.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to seed a large chunk of a state of the art library,” Mathison said. “Not many communities get that opportunity.”

The potential donor’s two conditions are that the new library is a memorial library, and is architecturally significant.

On Tuesday, Segelstrom said Mora is planning to set up outreach meetings with community stakeholders to determine future library needs, including computer accessibility, youth programming, and meeting spaces.

"It's a long, long process," she said. "But it is definitely moving forward slowly."

Mathison said the city is still "full steam ahead" for a five-to-ten year plan of getting a new library in Mora.

In December, Carla Lydon, ECRL's executive director, said the current Mora Public Library is over 50 years old and has outgrown modern library service.