Each year over 100 of Drew County’s best candy makers volunteer their skills to produce thousands of pieces of handmade candy. On Monday, February 13, these delicious treats are delivered to the library where Patricia Kulbeth’s team of sweethearts carefully package them into red-ribboned gift boxes.

Today you can purchase tickets for $5 at the library or from any member of the newly-elected Friends board. “It’s a perfect present for your sweetheart,” says President Lanee Dunlap, “but these candies are a nice way to say thank you to a hard-working colleague or a wonder winter pick-me-up for a friend.” Other board members include Michael Arnold, Truman Hamilton, Mary Heady, Eulea Kiraly, Jennifer Nicholson, and Beth Richardson.

Over the years, the proceeds of this event have been used to purchase books, pay for the library’s busy internet services and assisting with the exciting Summer Reading Program which enriches the lives of so many children during the school holidays. With the growing popularity of audio books, the event will also fund the purchase of more books on CDs.

The chocolate boxes will need to be picked up at the Monticello Library on Tuesday, February 14 from 9am until 4pm. Unclaimed candy will be resold after 4pm.

Soil testing, an early, but required part of the construction process began last week at the site of the future library site, at the intersection of North Main and Jefferson Streets. 

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New Library Meeting Sends Architects Back to the Drawing Board
nOV. 6, 2011

Jeffery Scherer and his team from Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle, LTD architect firm held a meeting to present their preliminary plans for the new library Thursday evening.

Mr. Scherer stated that he would like to be ready to get bids by spring, and that things are moving along quickly.

Plans for the new construction, on the old hospital site at the end of Main St., have been strategically designed to blend with the surrounding homes and neighborhoods. This was a special request of the library board.

To keep the history of the land alive, the architects have designed the proposed library in a shape that allows all of the trees on the property to be kept. Also, the “In Honor and Memory” sign that sits there currently is to be cleaned and preserved. The scale of the three wings of the building were made to be compatible with the residential character of the neighborhood.

The proposed drawings of the new library show it to feature a large parking area. It would hold 57 cars and one school bus. 10 foot wide covered walkways, a drive-through drop off spot, benches, and a 1/4 of a mile walking track around the property are just a few of the outdoor features. More elaborate than those would be a “secret garden” kept behind a wall. It would be accessed from inside the building, but be a completely outdoors experience. The wall would help keep children “contained” during story times, and also allow for parents to sit and read while children play. It was even mentioned that local artists might be invited to decorate the garden wall. A vestibule (10ft wide by 18ft long) would also be available with indoor seating.

Inside the building there would be three separate wings. One for staff offices and library business, another for the adult section, and a third for the children’s section.

The adult wing would feature fiction and non-fiction books, seating, study rooms, computers, and even a genealogy room. The children’s section would have its own “family bathroom” along with seating and books.

Meetings rooms have been designed to hold 100 people, or to be divided into two rooms. The meeting room would be equipped with projectors, screens, Wi-Fi, Skype capabilities, and a kitchenette.

The “on shelf” capacity of the new building would be 50,000 items. The actual amount of items you could “cram into the building”, according to Mr. Scherer, would be 75,000 items.

The new library would also be designed to be more user friendly with wider aisles, lower shelves, and better displays.

Once discussions opened up after the presentation, it was discovered that, though everyone was very pleased with the inside of the building, the outside design left them wanting a bit more. The residential style brick and long shape of the library created comments such as, “It looks like a nursing home,” and “It looks like one of our Drew Central School buildings.” Judge Damon Lampkin gave his opinion by saying it “looks like a small Baptist church.”

Money was mentioned as a problem factor with how much could be done to the outside of the building. “I am squeezing this turnip as hard as I can.” “Our goal is to have the operating cost the same on this building as the current building… twice the size building for the same operating cost.” – Jeffery Scherer

Ideas on how to possibly change the appearance of the library to be more pleasing to the public were exchanged, including adding stone work instead of all brick, possibly adding more glass, and changing the roof lines.

Judge Lampkin said during discussions, “The people in this community voted for a tax, and I want them to get what they want.”

Though the library board did say the architects designed the building in the manner they were instructed, seeing the result of what they said they wanted changed their opinion on how the library should look.

“We may have self-edited ourselves too much.” – Jeffery Scherer

In a statement to MonticelloLive, Mr. Scherer said, “The design will be evolving before the next presentation in early December. I want to make it clear that this is a beginning–not the end.”

MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

Library director Kim Patterson addressed the MEDC last week, updating community leaders on their upcoming construction project.

The library tax could start to be collected in April, or as late as July.  If the tax collection begins in April, groundwork could begin during the summer.

Public meetings are being planned to received community input on the library, and it’s design and construction.

This library bond was the only one approved by Arkansas voters during the November election.

The new library will be approximately 20,000 square feet, basically twice the size of the current library, and include a meeting roomed equipped with modern technology, which will be available for public use, even after library operating hours.

Plans are to include 25-30 computers, and for the structure to be designed for future flexibility, so it can be re-organized as future needs require.

Patrons who utilize this service are responsible for complying with the Internet Use Policy of the Library, which is printed on a hand-out available at the desk.Users are also responsible for knowing how to connect their device to a wireless network. Due to the wide variety of devices, the Library workers cannot assist the patron with this process.

The Library warns that wireless internet connections are NOT secure. Also, the Library does not provide wireless access for printing.

The signs posted at the new library parking lot show that I’m not the only one who needs to use spell-check more often.

They have been taken down and will be corrected by the company in central Arkansas who sold them to the county.

Meanwhile, at the May 19 Quorum Court meeting, the County, with the help of Library millage funds, agreed to purchase the property on Jefferson Street, adjacent to the Monticello Library, in order to expand the Library’s parking lot. To this end the house was purchased and moved. The county has leveled the lot, will remove trees, and expand the Library’s parking area. This will help the Library’s immediate need for more parking and will make this property more attractive to the county when the Library vacates and moves into their new Library building. The public’s help is now needed to remind the Quorum Court justices that the community still needs a bigger and better Public Library facility. In the new year after the new Quorum Court is seated, the Library hopes their building proposal will be reconsidered.

Thank you,
Marilyn Weih
President, Monticello Friends of the Library