Public Input Needed at Conifer Library Board Meeting Thursday March 17th

We need your help in letting the Jeffco Library Board know about our community’s desire for a Conifer Library. The board is meeting this Thursday, March 17 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss its Facilities Master Plan. The plan DOES NOT include a separate Conifer library facility to be part of the 2025 to 2030 budget timeframe.

Jefferson County rehired the same Master Plan consultant in 2021 to update its 2018 plan, and it’s even worse than before for our community! The updated version has eliminated, without explanation, the recommendation for Conifer to have its own facility. The plan now puts Conifer in a Needs-Based group, without a budget, saying potential for improvements will be determined based on community need, with no planned due date.

You may remember that in January 2021 Conifer Area Council (CAC) conducted a community survey about the Conifer Library. The survey’s main question was: Is there community support for a stand-alone library that would have regular daytime and evening hours like other Jefferson County libraries? Results showed overwhelming support (93 % of the 560 responses) for the idea.

CAC presented the survey to the Board and Executive Team of Jefferson County Library and asked that the recommendation in the 2018 Facilities Master Plan for Conifer to have a separate library facility be accelerated to the 2025-2030 budget timeframe.

CAC has shown the Jeffco Library Board that the community does not feel Conifer’s library needs are being met due to limited after-school hours, extensive closures during COVID and unequal library access and services compared to all other Jeffco libraries.

There is public comment at the beginning of the Library Board’s meeting. CAC and others will be commenting on the plan revisions. It would be great to show the library that there is a high degree of interest in their decision about a future library in Conifer.

Jefferson County Library Board Meeting
Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. – Virtual meeting
Join Online
Meeting number (access code): 2550 681 7059
Meeting password: P7dKRrenq72 (77357736 from phones and video systems)
Join by telephone
+1-408-418-9388 United States Toll
Access code: 2550 681 7059
Submit a comment for the Board
jeffcolibrary.org/questions-for-the-board-of-trustees/

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Conifer Library Talking Points about Updated Facilities Master Plan

Library Facilities Master Plan
The 2018 Jeffco Library Facilities Master Plan, written by the same consultant as the updated version of the Plan, recommended that JCPL “explore opportunities to relocate the Conifer library to a larger and/or more accessible space, as well as ASD strategies to enhance service to the community.” In the new version of the Master Plan, there is no mention of relocating the Conifer Library to a more accessible space and no timeline. In addition, Conifer is now in a new Needs-Based category. Why did the consultant drop the 2018 recommendation? The new Plan has no explanation for the change. The Conifer community has repeatedly addressed the Library Board and Administration in support of a stand-alone library in Conifer. We ask that you include a separate library for Conifer in this revised Plan.

Accessibility
Conifer’s library, located in Conifer High School, became significantly less accessible during COVID due to school restrictions. Conifer is always completely inaccessible during the school week until three in the afternoon. If the criteria for Needs Based is accessibility and increased services, Conifer’s inaccessibility already meets that need!

The location in the school is limiting to the community in several respects:

No community access until 3pm weekdays – How would patrons of the other JCPL libraries react to opening at 3 pm daily?
School and library shut down was extensive during COVID, much longer than other JCPL libraries
Patrons are intimidated by the students according to survey comments
Parking has always been a problem at Conifer due to school activities
The stairs are a problem for many and limit accessibility[/li]

Community survey
It is particularly hard to understand the revised Facilities Plan recommendation in light of the fact that the consultant was provided with results of a 2021 community survey in which 93 percent of the 560 respondents supported a relocated, stand-alone library for Conifer. The Conifer community deserves an answer to the question of why the recommendation has changed.

The same percentage of respondents to the survey (93%) said they would be more likely to use the library if it were open during the day. When asked about the ease of access, 81 percent responded that it was moderately to extremely difficult. The survey indicated that Conifer residents do not travel through Evergreen on a regular basis, so saying the Evergreen Library serves Conifer is misleading.
Of the 77 comments on the survey, 46 were about limited access to the Conifer Library. The library’s mission statement is about providing equal access to library services across the county.

Square footage issues
The updated Master Plan bases its recommendations on .05 sq’ per capita. Conifer Library in Conifer High School as it stands probably meets or exceeds that recommendation. The community has never said the library is too small; access is the issue. Equal access is the stated Mission of JCPL, and that’s what Conifer is asking for.

Geographic issues
The new Facilities Plan map indicates that the Library Expansion Area of Southern Jefferson County reaches to Conifer. And yet, most people living in the Conifer area would access Southern Jefferson County by way of Hwy 285 and then south. This could be an even further drive than the 35 minutes or more to get to the Columbine Library. How does Conifer benefit from the expansion in south Jefferson County?

Taxes and households
The 2020 census found the Highway 285 corridor contains 7642 housing units. Assuming the average Conifer home is valued at $600,000 and the assessed value is $42,900, the average Conifer household contributes $193.05 in property tax dollars annually in support of the library. At 7,642 housing units. the Jeffco Libraries receive approximately $1,475,288.00 from the 285 Corridor to support its budget annually.

Considering that the Conifer Library’s annual budget Is about $200,000, (maybe a bit more with the new lock box at Mountain Resource Center), the community contributes in excess of one and one quarter million dollars over costs of our current facility each year!

History
Conifer was among the first communities to join JCPL, and yet has never had its own library facility. JCPL has saved all the building and maintenance costs for Conifer for 70 years, and our community receives the least return for its tax dollars in terms of access and services.