District Looks For Perfect Library Location

PRESCOTT - The Wal- la Walla County Rural Library District over the next couple of months will be looking into expanding the Prescott Public Library into the empty lot next door or buying land or a building from the Prescott School District, officials say.

Aletha Bonebrake, the interim executive direc- tor, said the library district owns the empty lot next to the current library, but she doesn't know if the library should expand into the space. Bonebrake said South D Street, where the current library is located, is not an ideal location for a library because of children's safety.

"(That) street can be dangerous for kids when the harvest trucks come through," Bonebrake said.

Also, the empty lot, left from a fire that took a build- ing, could be challenging to build on and could cost more than constructing a new library from scratch, she said.

With the contract be- tween the rural library district and the Walla Wal- la city library ending in December, the district is striking out on its own. As an independent entity, it is working on building a new facility in the Walla Walla area and expand- ing programs, technology, services and facilities at its libraries throughout the county.

"Prescott is one of the branches we intend to ex- pand," she said.

The library's new facil- ity could provide more seating and club meeting space and the district has $700,000 for an expansion, Bonebrake said.

At a public forum on the changes in the rural library district, she said one resident had mentioned the school district's technol- ogy building is only being used for storage, and that could make a great library facility. Bonebrake said this idea is in line with what the library district is trying to do.

"We want to make the library more accessible to students," Bonebrake said.

With the knowledge of the technology building, she said she called up Superintendent Dr. Bill Jor- dan to see what the school district had to offer to get the library closer to the students.

"They have the money," Jordan told his school board members at the meeting on July 31. "They're looking to put a physical structure out here."

Jordan said the technology building is not being used for classes, but for storing equipment. There will not likely ever be an auto body shop in the technology building again be- cause of the new skills center being built in Walla Walla that Prescott students will be able to attend for that kind of training, he said.

The board members mentioned different parcels of land the district owns that could work if the li- brary district was looking to build fresh. They didn't say what location they would prefer, the storage building or empty land, but the board members and Jordan said they would like to work with the library district.

"We're open to continu- ing a discussion," Jordan said.

Bonebrake said the de- cision of whether to ex- pand the current library or build a new facility on land closer to the school will be made over the next couple of months - maybe sooner. She said the architect will need to visit the potential sites to evaluate them and decide what location would allow the district to get the best bang for its buck.