Libraries are essential to the vitality of our community. Christi sits down with Mesa County Libraries Executive Director, Michelle Boisvenue-Fox, to hear about all the programs and resources the library provides, threats to funding, the upcoming 125th anniversary of the library, and more on this month's Full Circle Podcast!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi everyone and welcome back tothe Full Circle Podcast.
(00:27):
I'm your host Christi Reece.
We're here in beautiful GrandJunction, Colorado today and I'm
honored to have as our guestMichelle Boisvenue-Fox, the
Executive Director of MesaCounty Libraries.
Welcome Michelle.
Michelle (00:39):
Thank you for having me.
It's wonderful to be here.
Christi (00:41):
So there's a lot to talk about.
I was just mentioning to youthat we do research on our
guests before they come on andI've got lots of pages and links
to articles which I've readthrough and there's a lot going
on with live I asked you, isthere a national trend in
libraries?
Is usage going up or down?
And you said it's changing.
Michelle (01:03):
It is changing.
How is it changing?
One of the things that we seein libraries is there are more
and more gathering spaces.
So communities need thatconnection.
They want to be connected withtheir neighbors and meet new
people and have friends and seepeople from other walks of their
life at the library and meetothers that have similar
interests to them.
So that's really kind of thetrend that we're seeing change
(01:23):
is the library as a communitycenter.
space, a community gatheringlocation.
But we did do a community needsassessment yesterday, and our
community both used the libraryand did not use the library.
The number one requirement isstill books and reading that
people still love and still leanon the library for.
Christi (01:39):
But does it change when you have people that want to
use it as a community space?
Does it change the the physicalnature of your spaces in the
library?
Do you need more meeting roomsand conference rooms and things
like that for people?
Michelle (01:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
So we just opened the CliftonLibrary.
And that's one of the thingsthat we were looking at when we
were expanding the squarefootage is it's going to be
people space that we're going tobe expanding.
Of course, the community wantedmore collection too.
So we were we were doing thatas well.
But yes, meeting rooms, studyrooms, even conference size
rooms for 10 to 12 people forHOAs and those kinds of size
(02:14):
groups to meet in addition tothe community rooms.
Our community rooms at theCentral Library are very
popular.
So people can reserve them forfree use for nonprofits in the
community.
And now they can do that at theClifton Library as well.
Christi (02:29):
That Clifton branch is such a success, isn't it?
It is.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow that came to fruition and
what it took to get a brand newlibrary branch?
Michelle (02:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
So the library in 2017purchased land along Patterson
and F Road there too.
And that's where we thought wewere going to be.
When I came to the library sixyears ago, I did a community
needs assessment.
And the size that we needed wasnot going to fit on that land.
So we were going to bechallenged with it.
It was very much in aneighborhood and I was reluctant
to go two floors with thesecond floor people looking in
(03:03):
whoever's backyards and thatkind of thing.
It just wasn't feeling reallygreat.
And the parking lot very faraway from the library.
But we were figuring it out.
We were working on it and thecounty was working on the county
campus at Clifton and said,hey, would you like some space
here?
We'd love to have a librarythere.
And so we pivoted pretty fast.
(03:24):
One of the requirements,though, was that we were on a
timeline and we were ahead ofwhere the county was in planning
their property.
So we needed to know that wehad their support and getting
out of the ground pretty fast.
So that's what we did.
The library board over theyears since 2017, set money
aside year over year, they weredebruised years ago, about 30
years ago.
(03:44):
So they had been saving up forthe Clifton Library.
And that meant that we hadthree and a half million dollars
to raise through the libraryfoundation, which did happen.
But that meant that the librarycommunity, our community
members didn't have an increasedtax So we were very proud of
that story.
Christi (04:02):
And how do those kind of projects get funded?
I mean, you talked about thefoundation, but that's a lot of
money.
That is a lot of money.
Where else do funds come from?
And how do you raise fundswithin the community?
Sure.
So
Michelle (04:16):
we also kind of expanded our breadth to the
Colorado community.
So we had several privatefoundations that were into
literacy or some aspect of whatwe were covering in the Clifton
Library that our projectqualified for.
We had some local familyfoundations as well that were
We're happy to support theClifton Library.
And then our donors as wellwere stepping up and helping us
(04:38):
out with that.
So it wasn't all one answer.
It was a multitude of actualthings that came into play.
We got some government fundsthrough the Department of Land
Affairs as well.
We got a grant through them.
So it was definitelymultidimensional, I guess, is
what I'll say.
Christi (04:54):
And
Michelle (04:54):
I
Christi (04:55):
think everybody would count it as a great success
story.
What's next on the horizon asfar as...
Yeah, absolutely.
Michelle (05:09):
So this past summer, because I can't be bored at all,
the Central Library, we foundsome adjacent property that the
library had been interested infor several years.
Downtown.
Downtown.
So it's across from the CentralLibrary.
It will be a bit of an annexthere, but it'll give us more
parking for the library becauseit's very busy now and we just
don't have the space.
I could give up parking spotsand build a bigger library or
(05:31):
expand on the Central Library.
library, but that would nothelp people trying to use the
library.
So we have an annex propertythat we've just combined all the
lots into one.
And we're planning to move theFriends of the Library there
eventually and possibly haveanother community room available
across the street with theparking.
Christi (05:48):
So Friends of the Library is a fundraising and how
would you describe that group?
And they have an office insidethe Central Library?
Michelle (05:58):
So they are a fundraising part of the library
found So they're a subcommitteeof them and they largely manage
book donations and help fundsome library projects and also
the capital projects.
Right now they're located atthe First Congregational Church
across from Grand Junction HighSchool in a bit of a temporary
location.
(06:18):
And I say temporary, I thinkthey've been there 10 years.
And they need to find a newspace.
That building is having thesame issues that the high school
had.
They're both on the same kindsof land.
So they're having some of thesame issues.
But we're hoping to move them alittle bit closer to central as
well.
Christi (06:35):
Well, that sounds wonderful.
So expansion maybe of thephysical square footage of the
building at some point?
Do you feel like that centrallocation needs more space?
Michelle (06:46):
Probably.
One thought that I had isthere's a reading patio on the
Grand Avenue side of the librarythat doesn't see a lot of
usage, and it has a lot oftraffic noise in it.
So it might in the future beable to enclose that to make an
additional community room.
Do you see my trend here oncommunity room, community where
I'm in the space for thecommunity.
Christi (07:07):
Is that, that patio is surrounded by that beautiful
metal wall with the books in it,right?
Yes.
I hope that can be somewhereelse.
I'm
Michelle (07:14):
hoping to keep that in there because that's lovely.
Yeah, we replicated at theClifton Library, so we'll
definitely want to reuse that.
I
Christi (07:20):
haven't been to the Clifton Library and I really
need to go.
Yeah, you do.
Check it out.
You do.
And honestly, I don't get tothis one as much as I used to
now that my kids are older.
When they were going to eventsthere and puppet shows and all
kinds of Sure.
Yeah.
Michelle (07:41):
There is another project that we're working on
too.
So our Orchard Mesa locationhas seen some low usage and it
had a rental increase last yearafter we got a new landlord.
And so we're looking for a newoption for that location.
I had about a month's worth oflistening sessions with the
community and patrons that usethat location.
And they still want somethingout there.
(08:02):
They don't need it to be big,nor does the library board have
an appetite to build somethinglarger there when Central is
pretty nearby.
So we're looking for a otherpartnership possibly like we did
with the Clifton campus like wehave with the Fruita and the
Fruita Rec Center and and orsomething temporary even I'm not
sure what that timeline lookslike because the other part of
(08:22):
this is that we're looking atpossibly getting reduced
revenues in 2026 so that's theother part of this conversation
is funding let's jump into thattalk about funding
Christi (08:32):
yeah I mean how are libraries funded in general for
their just their daily
Michelle (08:38):
operations sure so there is not a
one-size-fits-all,unfortunately.
That answer is a little bitmore complicated than that
because it depends on if you'rea municipal library or if you're
a county library.
Mesa County Libraries is adistrict library.
So back in the 90s, the votersvoted for the library to become
its own entity, its owndistrict.
That means we're not affiliatedor tied with the city.
(08:58):
We're also not tied oraffiliated with the county.
And it also gave us anopportunity to add our other
seven locations into the mix sothat we do serve the entire
county in that way.
Eight total locations.
Downtown plus And then thelibrary is funded through
property taxes.
That's for the largest part ofits revenue.
I mean, as high as 99% of itcomes through there.
(09:20):
The rest of it comes throughthe foundation and grants and
donors that help us out andsupport us.
And so the nice thing aboutthat is local.
And then we have...
have the same mill levy that wedid back in 1997.
So this is 30 years and goingthat this library administration
has done this.
Some of our leaders back in theday did, you know, de-bruced
(09:42):
and de-gallerized and did allthe things that really helped us
be where we are today, and ableto build this wonderful, strong
library.
But the state legislature didpass a property tax rate
reduction that will begin effectin 2026.
So we'll find out in August, Ifthere's been enough building
(10:02):
and people moving into MesaCounty to offset that or if we
will be be looking at reducedreduction revenue
Christi (10:10):
reductions.
What's going on at the federallevel?
I mean, lots of questions aboutfunding for all kinds of
organizations.
What kind of federal fundingdoes our library in particular
get these days?
Michelle (10:24):
So the federal level, there's the Institute of Museum
and Library Services.
This is an agency that getsfederal funds, and it funnels it
down to all the state librariesin the country.
And then the state librariesturn around and give it to all
of their libraries locally.
So it's kind of an upside downfunnel.
That's kind of how I how I lookat it so we don't get direct
(10:46):
funding through the Institute ofMuseum and Library Services but
Mesa County Libraries does havean adult learning center and
the adult learning center whichhas been going for 36 years
amazing isn't that awesome theywere involved in literacy and
then more recently in about 2018they started GED prep for our
local communities so all thoseadult people that did not finish
(11:08):
high school have an opportunityto go back and complete their
education which helps all of usin the community especially our
business owners have people thatcan go extra have better living
wages and also one of thethings that i learn a lot is
they do it for their kids whenthey have kids and they're
telling their kids to do good inschool and don't do like me
right right so they kind of wantto put their money where their
(11:30):
where words are in that regardso
Christi (11:32):
and as a an adult learner can be intimidating or
embarrassing and to have thatsupport system in a place like a
library that's so communityfocused is really great
Michelle (11:42):
absolutely and And not everybody had a great school
experience.
There's reasons why theystopped school.
So there is that.
But the Adult Learning Center,the instructors there are funded
through the Adult EducationLiteracy Act, which is a federal
act and it pays forinstructors.
So we have eight instructors inthat department.
(12:04):
Those funds come out of theDepartment of Education.
So you can see where ourconcerns are there.
What happens if that goes away?
Where is the funding?
We were and are approved for afour-year grant cycle, but we
also have gotten frozen lettersthat were unfrozen and refrozen,
and I'm not sure where they'reat at this point or what's going
to happen to the library andthe Adult Learning Center and
(12:26):
the instructors that are there.
But it's to the tune of$400,000, so that's not just
something that the library hasin its back pocket, that it can
just shift its budgetpriorities.
Christi (12:36):
So eight instructors, and they're instructing how many
days a week, and is it acouple-month-long program?
that people can attend, howdoes that work?
And what would it look like ifthat funding was eliminated?
Those classes would go awaycompletely for the foreseeable
future?
Michelle (12:52):
Right.
We would go back to our oldvolunteer model, which is just a
once a week with an instructor.
So whether you're learningEnglish language acquisition or
another way, the instructorsthat we have allow for students
to have a more accelerated classlearning experience so they can
get through and achieve theirGED faster and easier that way.
(13:14):
The instructors are trained toteach.
They're certified.
They have ways to set up lessonplans.
They know how to Are there anyother
Christi (13:34):
programs or things that you're concerned about at the
federal level with the funding,possibly interruptions?
Michelle (13:41):
We are not.
We do get some money from theInstitute of Museum and Library
Services through the statelibrary.
It's about $40,000.
It helps us pay for somedatabases.
But that is a small amount ofour budget.
So it's not as critical for us.
I will say across the state, wejust had a meeting with
Colorado library directorsacross the state.
(14:02):
And we have nine libraries thatare in jeopardy of closing if
they lose that IMLS funding.
So they're in very rurallocations.
They're very small libraries.
And the money they get from thefederal government through the
Institute of Museum and LibraryServices is like their
collection budget, the entireamount of it.
So if you don't have acollection to offer the
(14:23):
community, then are you alibrary?
Yeah,
Christi (14:26):
then you're just a meeting space, right?
Right.
You mentioned volunteers in theGED program.
What kind of staff do you haveamong eight locations, paid
staff and volunteer staff?
I assume there are lots ofvolunteer opportunities for
people.
Michelle (14:43):
There really are.
So we have 105 library staff.
So people are often surprisedby that.
But when you're spread outacross eight locations, it
definitely adds up.
And we have over 200volunteers.
So they outpace, outnumber ourpaid library staff.
And there are so manyopportunities and options for
them.
We have volunteers that work onour Words on Wheels delivery
(15:06):
service.
So they pack up little bags andthings for patrons who can't
come visit the library.
And then we deliver that totheir homes.
We also have volunteers, likein the summer, we have teens
that help with summer readingprogram.
It's a wonderful way to growbaby librarians, as I found out.
So get them hooked in early,get them loving, serving
(15:28):
community and help others is agreat recruitment tactic.
We also have a discoverygarden.
We just had our libraryfundraiser there on Saturday.
And that is that space iscompletely grant funded to the
point where it's at this year.
For the first time, we actuallyhave a seasonal library staff
that's working there withvolunteers and the different
(15:49):
volunteer projects.
But otherwise, that's allvolunteers.
Christi (15:52):
That's the garden back behind the central library.
Yeah.
Unknown (15:56):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Michelle (15:57):
Studio.
Is studio part of the library?
to use for galleries and thingslike that around the country.
(16:30):
We've had whole gospel albumsrecorded there.
We have a professor at CMU thatdoes stopgap animation and he
overlays the sound there in thestudio and records the stopgap
part of it.
So that happens there.
We also have an artist inresidence program and that
person there, we have threeartists in residence a year that
(16:52):
are paid for by the libraryfoundation and they offer
programs to the community thatAnd the community can come to
them and visit them and whatthey're doing in the studio and
the artwork and that kind ofthing.
So whose brainchild
Christi (17:05):
was that?
And is that something that alot of communities have?
Is it was it modeled afteranother community?
Because I think it's just abrilliant thing.
And I've heard so many artiststalk about what a great resource
Michelle (17:16):
it is.
Thank you so much.
(17:37):
This is the emerging artistspace, the emerging creative
(18:00):
space that you go there when youdon't have the money to pay for
a professional studio to dothat work for you.
You learn to do it yourself,you figure it out, you build up
your career, and then you go tothe pay for studios and have
them do it.
That's great.
Christi (18:13):
One of the themes that we talk about a lot on the
podcast when talking a lot oforganizations is the
collaboration between differentorganizations.
Who would you say youcollaborate with most?
What kind of relationships doyou have with other
organizations?
Do you do things with CMU, theschool district?
What goes on with all of theseother great groups in town?
Michelle (18:33):
So that's one of the beautiful things about being
Western Slope is there is a lotof collaboration here.
And sort of the way I'vefigured out since I've been new
to the community six years agois that a lot of attention goes
to the front range.
A lot of resources go to thefront range.
And I think a lot of WesternSlope communities have had to
figure stuff out on their own inour rural places.
And that's what's happened herein Mesa County.
(18:53):
We work with arts and culture.
We work with education groups.
We work with nonprofits.
We're just all over.
We have opportunities at thelibraries at all of our
locations.
for communities tables soinformation tables from
different organizations to comeinto the library they can use
our community rooms and havemeetings and programs of their
own there's space for them to dothat very efficiently and
(19:16):
economically we also have arelationship with Grand Valley
Connects through the healthdepartment so this is a new
partnership that's probably ayear and a half old now and they
co-locate at the centrallibrary they're resource
navigators so people can walkinto the central library and
walk over to them if they have aneed or having an issue with a
(19:38):
resource.
One of the things that I'velearned is that trying to
unravel how we get benefits andhow you get resources is a real
challenge.
And that's one of the thingsthe public health department
figured out too, is that there'sa lot of people that qualify
for these resources in ourcommunity that were not getting
it.
So what were those barriers?
And those resource navigators,they will make phone calls, they
(19:59):
will go to appointments, theywill do a lot to remove those
barriers for community membersbecause the hard part sometimes
is just where do I start I don'teven know who to call first
absolutely and some people justdon't have the ability to make
phone calls and stay on hold orbe able to communicate with
someone on what they need sothere are a lot of challenges
that people have and we've justexpanded the partnership to the
(20:21):
Clifton Library so they'reTuesday afternoons now as well
Christi (20:25):
when when we sat down together we talked a little bit
about the different demographicsof people that use the library
and it's from you said birth todeath, really.
I mean, you're serving everyage, every
Michelle (20:40):
generation.
For the record, we have not hadanybody die in the library.
Christi (20:42):
Okay, good.
Or born?
No, no, I can't say I've had
Michelle (20:47):
that.
I've had a lot happen in mylibrary career, but not that.
Christi (20:51):
Try to stay away from that.
Right, yeah.
But it's phenomenal all thedifferent generations of people
that you are trying to attract,entertain in a way, keep
engaged.
How do you do that withdifferent programs and how do
you identify the most vulnerablepopulations that really need
(21:11):
the library?
Michelle (21:13):
Yeah, so we do focus a lot and we get a lot of access
to parts of our communitythrough our partners as well.
I want to acknowledge that.
And not only because we comeinto the library, you're not
self-identifying, hey, I need ahouse or whatnot.
So it's a little bit, there'ssome anonymous qualities to it
that help make it equal for alot of people in our community.
But we do work with a lot ofdifferent groups.
(21:36):
We do work with other nonprofitgroups to figure that out.
The community, we love toengage with them and get their
feed So they can suggest aprogram idea for us.
They can suggest material forthe library to purchase for
them.
We've done surveys in the paston our Library of Things
collection.
We know people love our culturepasses to check them out and
(21:59):
use those at all the differentcommunity spaces that charge
admission.
And so including the ColoradoNational Monument, just in case
you need a pass for a groupvisiting or some friends.
So yeah, those are all waysthat we help And another way
that I explain this and the waythat I see this happen at the
library is, you know,connections happen a lot.
(22:19):
We see caregivers meeting atstory time and suddenly they're
going out to coffee or they'respending a little bit extra time
after story time to talk andcompare notes about their little
ones and what they're doing.
But we also see it, and thishas been a challenge in our
community, our houselesspopulation also uses the
library.
They need access to publicrestrooms.
(22:40):
They need access to refillwater.
bottles, charge devices, usethe public internet and the
public computers at the library,and sometimes just a place to
get out of the elements, whetherit's heat or cold.
And so some people love thatabout the library, that
everybody's there, and otherpeople, it's a real challenge to
see that.
(23:00):
And the way that I think aboutthis is, you know, people, they
choose where you work and whereyou live and where you shop and
where you worship, but when yougo to the library, everybody's
there.
And so there's this amazingcrossroads that doesn't happen
other places in our community.
And that's what happens atlibraries.
And it's very unique and it'svery special.
Christi (23:19):
Wow.
I love that.
Yeah.
I mean, obviously, there aresome organizations near the
library that serve our unhousedpopulation.
And so they are a lot of thefolks that are in the downtown
area.
Yeah, are looking for places toget out of the elements and
things like that.
(23:40):
And is public open to everyone?
What are the hours of thedowntown library?
Michelle (23:44):
So the downtown library is open 9 to 8 Monday
through Thursday, 9 to 6 onFriday, 9 to 5 on Saturday, and
1 to 5 on Sundays during theschool year.
Okay.
You're testing me.
Christi (23:58):
That was good.
You know your stuff.
You know from the back to thefront.
Amazing.
I try.
Not always, but I try.
So what are the groups that youthink...
uh, maybe thinking that thelibrary is not for them, that
there's, there's not a space forthem or there's no resources
(24:19):
for them or, or kids in there.
I'm not very good at knowingthe ages of like the Gen Z, Gen
X and all that.
But, um, are there certaingroups of young people that
think, yeah, that's not my, myjam?
Or do you see wide usage fromall ages?
I
Michelle (24:34):
do see wide usage.
We do community research everyyear at the library, just to try
and keep up on what's going onin our community.
And one of the things thatwe've learned is our Spanish
speaking community doesn'tunderstand that the library is
free, for example.
And that's something that like,when we do our publicity, we
(24:55):
don't put free on everything.
Like it's a little bit of anassumed thing.
Like you need to have anunderstanding of library
tradition but on the other handshould we be assuming that
everybody knows what if youdidn't take your kids to the
library when they were littlewhat if you yourself didn't go
you wouldn't understand thelibrary ecosystem as it were so
kind of making that assumptionis something that we're
(25:17):
challenging ourselves with withnow as well um Anybody else that
doesn't use the library?
You know, I think a lot of whatI hear word of mouth to a lot
of neighbors and people like youcan get that at the library,
you should go to the library.
So it really is our hugecommunity of supporters that
help get the word out and helpencourage people to use the
resource.
Christi (25:38):
Awesome.
Thank you so much for joining
Michelle (26:07):
us.
And at the time, it was the toplibrary school in the country.
And I remember I applied, and Ilearned that.
And then I was like, Oh, no, Iwasted my money.
(26:28):
But they told me, they're like,Don't worry, you'll be really
happy with the outcome.
So that's what I did.
I was actually the secondcohort to go through a distance
program.
I was living in Oregon at thetime when I got my master's
degree.
So it was very early on whenthose were happening.
They're more common now andmore available to people
wherever they live, which is areally good thing.
Christi (26:49):
So do you love books for from a very young age and
was that something that yourparents really instilled in you?
Michelle (26:57):
Definitely.
My mom was a teacher.
So she always thought I wouldgrow up and be a teacher.
But really, she became alibrarian.
And I said, she grew up tobecome a librarian like me.
It's kind of our family joke.
But one of the things I wasjust telling our staff at our
last staff development day thatwhen I was a child, I wanted to
be so many things.
I wanted to be a librarian anda teacher.
(27:17):
I wanted to be a bus driver.
I wanted to be Wonder Woman.
I wanted to be interiordesigner.
And I got to be all of thosethings as a really brave things
for my staff in the past.
I've checked in and out on anawful lot of books.
I used to teach computerclasses when I was a baby
librarian, and I've built sixlibraries.
(27:38):
Clifton Library was my sixthone, the project that I had, so
I got to even do a little bit ofinterior design.
That's
Christi (27:44):
wonderful.
Well, we feel very lucky tohave you here in the Grand
Valley.
Have you enjoyed the transitionhere?
Very
Michelle (27:51):
much so.
This is a very dynamic anddiverse community, and I really
enjoy it.
It fits me really well.
I Yes, I love the outdoors.
That's become my mental healthhere.
Not just because COVIDhappened, but it's just been
been wonderful to hike and dothose things.
I lived in Oregon previously.
So hiking is a great place.
Christi (28:08):
So if somebody else that was listening or watching
is interested in libraryscience, have advice for them?
Michelle (28:19):
So there's a few conversations that I have with
people.
If you're an introvert, it'sokay.
It's a great profession.
One of the things that I findis that when you find your
passion, it doesn't matter howintroverted you are.
The passion will show.
It will draw you through andyou will be perfect.
Don't worry about that.
But also, you don't really getto read a lot of books on the
(28:40):
job.
I'm just going to be reallytransparent.
That really is not part of thework.
So kind of be careful.
If you really love reading andbooks and maybe look publishing
maybe looking at becoming awriter or a teacher from from
that standpoint because
Christi (28:54):
you're really running a big organization right yeah
absolutely not a lot of time forjust sitting down and reading a
fiction book and writing areview you know for the library
like i read this book absolutely
Michelle (29:05):
yeah and our librarians they work a lot on
connecting people to resourcesand accessing different
information for them and andless so on reading of course we
do recommend books too and we'rerather good at that but how
many librarians do you have ateach location So it depends on
how large or small.
Some of our really small rurallocation have a library
assistant in them.
(29:26):
And so we have librariansbasically at the central
library.
Okay.
And that covers children's andteens and adults.
Christi (29:36):
Do you want to talk about the free speech issue that
came up in the paper this week?
Sure.
Okay.
It's been in the paper andtalked about in the community
about some artwork that'shanging in the Central Library,
correct?
Michelle (29:50):
Correct.
So we have a recycled art bookshow up right now, and that show
had an open call for art fromour community.
You could submit artwork if youwere 16 and older.
The submission went to theLibrary Art Committee, which is
a group of staff there, abouteight of them, that vote on the
items individually.
And so that's how it gets agreen light or a If we're going
(30:13):
to accept it into the exhibit.
This one came up, it passed thecall for art, and it was given
to me to make sure that itpassed the art exhibit policy
that the library has in thecriteria.
It is political commentary, Iguess is kind of how I will
categorize it.
And the library does not makejudgment on religious or
(30:36):
political fronts, because whenyou serve the whole community,
there is everybody in thatspectrum all along the way
there.
And that also means thatthere's a lot of diversity of
perspective in our community.
So it is not expected thateverybody loves all art equally.
Well, that doesn't happen ever.
We all have opinions on what welike and don't like.
And so that is coming up withthis piece as well.
Christi (30:59):
It's a tough time for libraries with this issue
because books are art.
Yes, just as the paintings are.
And there are a lot ofperspectives.
How do you...
How do you navigate what is...
What is not allowed?
What is free speech?
I mean, to you, it's a freespeech issue.
(31:20):
And all the members of thecommunity should be able to
check out the books they want.
They should be available topeople, should be able to see
this art.
But are there things thataren't allowed?
Right.
Michelle (31:33):
So one of the things that we look at as like building
our collection as an example iswe really look at the data and
what is used in our community sothat we can really tailor that
to our community.
I also talked about therecommended purchase as well
that the community can do to getwhat they want in the library
(31:54):
from that standpoint.
What I find interesting nowthat I see happening is people
really want a very personalexperience at the library.
They want their books in thelibrary, the things that they
want to see in the library.
And fortunately, we all havethat mindset.
So what happens at the library?
There's going to be things thatyou don't want to see or that
don't match your values.
(32:15):
And it's one of the things thatwe say that we really depend on
parents to help drive thevalues of their family and have
those conversations with theirkids and to monitor what they're
using because it is a communitylibrary.
There is something foreverybody there, but it doesn't
mean everybody is for everybody.
Christi (32:32):
There have been some books banned from some federal
organizations over the last fewmonths.
Talk about how that Makes youfeel banning books.
I mean, that's something Ithink is an anathema to our way
of life in this country.
But
Michelle (32:53):
I mean, it's the First Amendment.
And there's a reason it's theFirst Amendment.
That's how important it was tothe people that created and
founded our country.
That wasn't something they'dhad before.
So access to information, nomatter what.
And ability to have opinions,your own opinions, differing
opinions than your neighbor.
It is still a beautiful thing.
(33:14):
It is still worthwhile.
It is still worth protecting.
And I think that's one of thethings that we're hearing from
our community right now.
Overwhelmingly, our communityis calling and telling us, thank
you.
We appreciate you.
This is important to us.
We want this in our community.
We want diverse perspectives inour community.
And they're not even talkingabout the artwork if they like
(33:36):
it or don't like it.
They're just saying that Thistenant is really important to
them personally.
And maybe that's just becauseit's become more important and
they've found their voice andwant to make sure that they let
us know.
And there are people that don'tlike that piece and are sharing
that with us
Christi (33:51):
too.
But that opinion matters also.
You want to hear from everyone.
Everyone's welcome at thelibrary.
All opinions are welcome at thelibrary.
Michelle (34:01):
Absolutely.
That's part of what makes us acommunity.
Yeah.
And I don't think it needs tobe divisive.
It's okay to not like the artpiece.
Christi (34:09):
How long is that particular art show running if
people want to check it out?
So it's
Michelle (34:14):
going to be taken down May 15th.
So get to the library.
You've got two more weeks.
Okay.
So if this is going to beposted next week, then we got
one week.
Maybe I should alter that andsay you've got one week.
You got till May 15th.
Christi (34:26):
You brought a sign with you today that I would love to
highlight.
Let's take a look.
Love Your Library 125.
Mesa County Libraries wasfounded in 1901.
1901.
Amazing.
That's how long a
Michelle (34:42):
legacy that this library has in this community.
Do you know where the firstlocation was?
It is near where the CentralLibrary is currently.
It's kind of one street overand one street.
It was a Carnegie Library.
There was a women's group thatgot together.
I'm guessing, I'm kind ofreading in between the lines
that they convinced their moverand shaker husbands to fund the
rest of the Carnegie promise.
But Carnegie gave money as longas the community provided the
(35:05):
land and the maintaining thatLibrary.
Unfortunately, it doesn't standtoday.
So there isn't a building todrive by and say, oh, that
Carnegie Library, which is hardbecause they're really beloved
and special.
They're really interestingbuildings around the country.
Christi (35:20):
So what are you doing to help celebrate this
milestone?
Michelle (35:23):
So right now, the 125th anniversary technically
starts in 2026, but we'reobviously getting an early
start.
We're going to get somecelebration out of this one for
a full year.
One of the things that we areworking on right now is a 125th
library video and we're goinginto the community and
interviewing community membersabout why they love the library
(35:45):
and to share their librarymemories if they happen to live
in this community from back inthe day so we are doing that we
have these signs that will beavailable to the community I
don't know the details yet wejust literally got them so you
can have this yard sign to putin front of the Christine Reese
crew we'll put it in front ofour book box there you go yes
awesome and then we're alsogoing to be doing another art
(36:07):
exhibit that celebrateslibraries.
So kind of something art that'sinspired by libraries.
Next year, we also are going tobe doing We used to have
library wine.
I don't know.
Do you, do you know of librarywine?
No.
Okay.
So we have the grape Gatsby andwell-read and it was through a
local winery that since sold.
So we don't have library wineanymore, but we're hoping to
(36:28):
find a partner to have librarywine again next year to help
celebrate the library.
And would that be a fundraiseralso?
That would be a fundraiser.
Yeah, definitely.
I'm trying to think what otherthings we're going to have a
special edition library cardavailable.
We're going to have somehistory programs available.
We in, the administrativehallway where my office is
located at the central, thereare some very overly large
(36:50):
historic photos of all thelibraries in our community,
including a bookmobile.
And so we'll hope to get thoseout in the, in the public areas
as well.
Yeah.
Christi (36:58):
Well, I just, I love your attitude and I love your
energy and I love everythingthat you're doing at Mesa County
libraries, just being soinclusive and welcoming to
everybody.
And I think for those peoplethat are watching that, um,
don't know all the things thatthe library has to offer, um, We
talked about there's resourcepeople, right?
When you come in, walk in andcheck it out.
(37:19):
Roam around.
Look at all the lists of thingsthat are going on and happening
from small kid programs tosenior programs.
And just a ton of resources forpeople.
Michelle (37:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
So one of the things that I amgetting a lot of questions on
lately is how people can supportthe library.
That's become very important toour community.
And I think generally, youknow, how do you protect the
things that you care most about?
So one of the things that Itell people is to get a library
card.
It actually does matter for thelibrary.
(37:52):
It helps our community.
statistics and our grantwriting and things like that.
But it also shows communitysupport.
If you if you get a librarycard, and it's pretty easy, and
you're already paying taxes.
So it's pretty, pretty easy todo.
Sign up for the library'se-newsletter, which you do
automatically get signed up whenyou get your library card.
So that's something that reallycan stay connected with what's
(38:12):
going on at the library.
We do have a board openingright now we have.
So if you want to serve thecommunity and be on the library
board, it is very impactful inthis day and age to be a library
trustee and to have thatprotective factor for the
library, but also to make surethe library is serving the
community and meeting its needsas well.
So it's kind of a dual role.
(38:33):
But you get to be my boss, andthere are seven trustees total.
And so that application isavailable on the county website.
The county commissioners doappoint those people for the
library per the library districtlaw.
You can also donate to theLibrary Foundation.
I mentioned that a few times.
They're also 30 years old, sothe Library Foundation is not
(38:54):
new.
And while they've largelyhelped with capital projects,
they're also working on otherthings too.
They support summer readingprogram.
They support Culture Fest andComic-Con as well.
So those are big signatureevents.
Comic-Con, right?
So great.
And then volunteering at thelibrary.
That's one of the things that Imentioned.
Doing a 125 anniversary videois another one.
So you can call the library andfind out how to sign up for
(39:16):
that and to get a spot there.
Send an email to countycommissioners and talk about how
you use the library and how youlove the library.
I just mentioned that theyappoint our library trustees, so
they like to hear how peopleappreciate the library and that
it's important to them.
Share your library stories withyour neighbors, with your
coworkers.
Just help spread the word.
And don't assume people don'tknow or do use the library like
(39:39):
you do.
Don't make that go there.
Read a banned book.
Find out what's going on.
We do annual displays at thelibrary, and that's one of the
things when we interact withpeople is they're surprised by
what books have been removedbecause they may have read them
when they were younger.
And they're curious, like, waita minute, I read that book.
And they don't rememberanything specific that would
(40:02):
have been alarming to them.
So it's a good conversation.
And then of course, bring ourstaff treats and show them
Christi (40:09):
love.
Michelle (40:10):
Seriously, being on the front lines of libraries
right now is really hard.
Let me be really honest.
Christi (40:14):
Thank you for sharing that list.
It made me think too, becausewe have the little library out
here in front of our office.
If people have books they wantto donate, is that something you
take regularly?
I mean, you have a lot ofbooks.
How do you handle people comingin with boxes and boxes of
books?
Because we see it a lot in ourindustry.
(40:35):
We have...
folks that pass away or moveinto assisted living and their
family is looking to rehome someof these books.
Michelle (40:42):
Yes.
So the Friends of the Library,the ones that take the book
donations, because they do theused book sales as a fundraiser
for the library, and they'relocated at First Congregational
Church across from GrandJunction High School.
And there is a cabinet there,so you can drop off books there.
If you do have loads and loadsof books, then there is a number
on our website for a volunteerto coordinate that delivery with
so that you're not just pilingup, I don't know, how many
(41:05):
books, 20 boxes of books orsomething.
like that.
So some people have a lot.
Christi (41:11):
What are you looking forward to the most in the next
year with your libraries,Michelle?
Michelle (41:16):
So the 125th birthday is a really big deal.
I go back to that and I thinkabout what it's taken all of our
library predecessors, our staffand our administration and our
board of trustees to get thelibrary where it's at today.
Last year, Mesa CountyLibraries was a finalist for the
National Medal.
(41:36):
That is a congressional medalthat is awarded to libraries and
museums across our country.
We were one of 13.
That's amazing.
in rural Colorado were one ofthose libraries that were
honored.
That's something you should beso proud of.
Thank you.
And we didn't get the awardultimately, but being a finalist
was such a shock to so manypeople.
(41:57):
Yeah.
I remember telling my staff themorning before the national
announcement came out, I hadbeen on embargoed for several
weeks, so I kind of knew andthey didn't know, and I was just
bursting to tell them.
And that was a career moment tobe able to tell staff that they
were so amazing, that they werebeing honored nationally.
Well, thank
Christi (42:21):
you so much for being our guest today.
Is there anything else you'dlike to share before we go?
Michelle (42:25):
Oh.
There's just so much.
I just love the community.
And talking about libraries isone of my favorite things.
So thanks for having me today.
Christi (42:34):
Yeah, really excited to have you here.
So encourage you, our listenersand viewers, to get to one of
the branches of the Mesa CountyLibrary.
Check it out.
See all the programs they havegoing on.
Use the public spaces.
Use the community spaces.
It's there for you.
This is your library.
Thank you, Michelle.
Thank you.
All right, everyone.
We'll see you next time on theFull Circle Podcast.
(42:56):
Have a great day.
Thanks for listening.
This is Christi Reece signingout from the Full Circle
Podcast.
Hi everyone and welcome back tothe Full Circle Podcast.
(00:27):
I'm your host Christi Reece.
We're here in beautiful GrandJunction, Colorado today and I'm
honored to have as our guestMichelle Boisvenue-Fox, the
Executive Director of MesaCounty Libraries.
Welcome Michelle.
Michelle (00:39):
Thank you for having me.
It's wonderful to be here.
Christi (00:41):
So there's a lot to talk about.
I was just mentioning to youthat we do research on our
guests before they come on andI've got lots of pages and links
to articles which I've readthrough and there's a lot going
on with live I asked you, isthere a national trend in
libraries?
Is usage going up or down?
And you said it's changing.
Michelle (01:03):
It is changing.
How is it changing?
One of the things that we seein libraries is there are more
and more gathering spaces.
So communities need thatconnection.
They want to be connected withtheir neighbors and meet new
people and have friends and seepeople from other walks of their
life at the library and meetothers that have similar
interests to them.
So that's really kind of thetrend that we're seeing change
(01:23):
is the library as a communitycenter.
space, a community gatheringlocation.
But we did do a community needsassessment yesterday, and our
community both used the libraryand did not use the library.
The number one requirement isstill books and reading that
people still love and still leanon the library for.
Christi (01:39):
But does it change when you have people that want to
use it as a community space?
Does it change the the physicalnature of your spaces in the
library?
Do you need more meeting roomsand conference rooms and things
like that for people?
Michelle (01:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
So we just opened the CliftonLibrary.
And that's one of the thingsthat we were looking at when we
were expanding the squarefootage is it's going to be
people space that we're going tobe expanding.
Of course, the community wantedmore collection too.
So we were we were doing thatas well.
But yes, meeting rooms, studyrooms, even conference size
rooms for 10 to 12 people forHOAs and those kinds of size
(02:14):
groups to meet in addition tothe community rooms.
Our community rooms at theCentral Library are very
popular.
So people can reserve them forfree use for nonprofits in the
community.
And now they can do that at theClifton Library as well.
Christi (02:29):
That Clifton branch is such a success, isn't it?
It is.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow that came to fruition and
what it took to get a brand newlibrary branch?
Michelle (02:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
So the library in 2017purchased land along Patterson
and F Road there too.
And that's where we thought wewere going to be.
When I came to the library sixyears ago, I did a community
needs assessment.
And the size that we needed wasnot going to fit on that land.
So we were going to bechallenged with it.
It was very much in aneighborhood and I was reluctant
to go two floors with thesecond floor people looking in
(03:03):
whoever's backyards and thatkind of thing.
It just wasn't feeling reallygreat.
And the parking lot very faraway from the library.
But we were figuring it out.
We were working on it and thecounty was working on the county
campus at Clifton and said,hey, would you like some space
here?
We'd love to have a librarythere.
And so we pivoted pretty fast.
(03:24):
One of the requirements,though, was that we were on a
timeline and we were ahead ofwhere the county was in planning
their property.
So we needed to know that wehad their support and getting
out of the ground pretty fast.
So that's what we did.
The library board over theyears since 2017, set money
aside year over year, they weredebruised years ago, about 30
years ago.
(03:44):
So they had been saving up forthe Clifton Library.
And that meant that we hadthree and a half million dollars
to raise through the libraryfoundation, which did happen.
But that meant that the librarycommunity, our community
members didn't have an increasedtax So we were very proud of
that story.
Christi (04:02):
And how do those kind of projects get funded?
I mean, you talked about thefoundation, but that's a lot of
money.
That is a lot of money.
Where else do funds come from?
And how do you raise fundswithin the community?
Sure.
So
Michelle (04:16):
we also kind of expanded our breadth to the
Colorado community.
So we had several privatefoundations that were into
literacy or some aspect of whatwe were covering in the Clifton
Library that our projectqualified for.
We had some local familyfoundations as well that were
We're happy to support theClifton Library.
And then our donors as wellwere stepping up and helping us
(04:38):
out with that.
So it wasn't all one answer.
It was a multitude of actualthings that came into play.
We got some government fundsthrough the Department of Land
Affairs as well.
We got a grant through them.
So it was definitelymultidimensional, I guess, is
what I'll say.
Christi (04:54):
And
Michelle (04:54):
I
Christi (04:55):
think everybody would count it as a great success
story.
What's next on the horizon asfar as...
Yeah, absolutely.
Michelle (05:09):
So this past summer, because I can't be bored at all,
the Central Library, we foundsome adjacent property that the
library had been interested infor several years.
Downtown.
Downtown.
So it's across from the CentralLibrary.
It will be a bit of an annexthere, but it'll give us more
parking for the library becauseit's very busy now and we just
don't have the space.
I could give up parking spotsand build a bigger library or
(05:31):
expand on the Central Library.
library, but that would nothelp people trying to use the
library.
So we have an annex propertythat we've just combined all the
lots into one.
And we're planning to move theFriends of the Library there
eventually and possibly haveanother community room available
across the street with theparking.
Christi (05:48):
So Friends of the Library is a fundraising and how
would you describe that group?
And they have an office insidethe Central Library?
Michelle (05:58):
So they are a fundraising part of the library
found So they're a subcommitteeof them and they largely manage
book donations and help fundsome library projects and also
the capital projects.
Right now they're located atthe First Congregational Church
across from Grand Junction HighSchool in a bit of a temporary
location.
(06:18):
And I say temporary, I thinkthey've been there 10 years.
And they need to find a newspace.
That building is having thesame issues that the high school
had.
They're both on the same kindsof land.
So they're having some of thesame issues.
But we're hoping to move them alittle bit closer to central as
well.
Christi (06:35):
Well, that sounds wonderful.
So expansion maybe of thephysical square footage of the
building at some point?
Do you feel like that centrallocation needs more space?
Michelle (06:46):
Probably.
One thought that I had isthere's a reading patio on the
Grand Avenue side of the librarythat doesn't see a lot of
usage, and it has a lot oftraffic noise in it.
So it might in the future beable to enclose that to make an
additional community room.
Do you see my trend here oncommunity room, community where
I'm in the space for thecommunity.
Christi (07:07):
Is that, that patio is surrounded by that beautiful
metal wall with the books in it,right?
Yes.
I hope that can be somewhereelse.
I'm
Michelle (07:14):
hoping to keep that in there because that's lovely.
Yeah, we replicated at theClifton Library, so we'll
definitely want to reuse that.
I
Christi (07:20):
haven't been to the Clifton Library and I really
need to go.
Yeah, you do.
Check it out.
You do.
And honestly, I don't get tothis one as much as I used to
now that my kids are older.
When they were going to eventsthere and puppet shows and all
kinds of Sure.
Yeah.
Michelle (07:41):
There is another project that we're working on
too.
So our Orchard Mesa locationhas seen some low usage and it
had a rental increase last yearafter we got a new landlord.
And so we're looking for a newoption for that location.
I had about a month's worth oflistening sessions with the
community and patrons that usethat location.
And they still want somethingout there.
(08:02):
They don't need it to be big,nor does the library board have
an appetite to build somethinglarger there when Central is
pretty nearby.
So we're looking for a otherpartnership possibly like we did
with the Clifton campus like wehave with the Fruita and the
Fruita Rec Center and and orsomething temporary even I'm not
sure what that timeline lookslike because the other part of
(08:22):
this is that we're looking atpossibly getting reduced
revenues in 2026 so that's theother part of this conversation
is funding let's jump into thattalk about funding
Christi (08:32):
yeah I mean how are libraries funded in general for
their just their daily
Michelle (08:38):
operations sure so there is not a
one-size-fits-all,unfortunately.
That answer is a little bitmore complicated than that
because it depends on if you'rea municipal library or if you're
a county library.
Mesa County Libraries is adistrict library.
So back in the 90s, the votersvoted for the library to become
its own entity, its owndistrict.
That means we're not affiliatedor tied with the city.
(08:58):
We're also not tied oraffiliated with the county.
And it also gave us anopportunity to add our other
seven locations into the mix sothat we do serve the entire
county in that way.
Eight total locations.
Downtown plus And then thelibrary is funded through
property taxes.
That's for the largest part ofits revenue.
I mean, as high as 99% of itcomes through there.
(09:20):
The rest of it comes throughthe foundation and grants and
donors that help us out andsupport us.
And so the nice thing aboutthat is local.
And then we have...
have the same mill levy that wedid back in 1997.
So this is 30 years and goingthat this library administration
has done this.
Some of our leaders back in theday did, you know, de-bruced
(09:42):
and de-gallerized and did allthe things that really helped us
be where we are today, and ableto build this wonderful, strong
library.
But the state legislature didpass a property tax rate
reduction that will begin effectin 2026.
So we'll find out in August, Ifthere's been enough building
(10:02):
and people moving into MesaCounty to offset that or if we
will be be looking at reducedreduction revenue
Christi (10:10):
reductions.
What's going on at the federallevel?
I mean, lots of questions aboutfunding for all kinds of
organizations.
What kind of federal fundingdoes our library in particular
get these days?
Michelle (10:24):
So the federal level, there's the Institute of Museum
and Library Services.
This is an agency that getsfederal funds, and it funnels it
down to all the state librariesin the country.
And then the state librariesturn around and give it to all
of their libraries locally.
So it's kind of an upside downfunnel.
That's kind of how I how I lookat it so we don't get direct
(10:46):
funding through the Institute ofMuseum and Library Services but
Mesa County Libraries does havean adult learning center and
the adult learning center whichhas been going for 36 years
amazing isn't that awesome theywere involved in literacy and
then more recently in about 2018they started GED prep for our
local communities so all thoseadult people that did not finish
(11:08):
high school have an opportunityto go back and complete their
education which helps all of usin the community especially our
business owners have people thatcan go extra have better living
wages and also one of thethings that i learn a lot is
they do it for their kids whenthey have kids and they're
telling their kids to do good inschool and don't do like me
right right so they kind of wantto put their money where their
(11:30):
where words are in that regardso
Christi (11:32):
and as a an adult learner can be intimidating or
embarrassing and to have thatsupport system in a place like a
library that's so communityfocused is really great
Michelle (11:42):
absolutely and And not everybody had a great school
experience.
There's reasons why theystopped school.
So there is that.
But the Adult Learning Center,the instructors there are funded
through the Adult EducationLiteracy Act, which is a federal
act and it pays forinstructors.
So we have eight instructors inthat department.
(12:04):
Those funds come out of theDepartment of Education.
So you can see where ourconcerns are there.
What happens if that goes away?
Where is the funding?
We were and are approved for afour-year grant cycle, but we
also have gotten frozen lettersthat were unfrozen and refrozen,
and I'm not sure where they'reat at this point or what's going
to happen to the library andthe Adult Learning Center and
(12:26):
the instructors that are there.
But it's to the tune of$400,000, so that's not just
something that the library hasin its back pocket, that it can
just shift its budgetpriorities.
Christi (12:36):
So eight instructors, and they're instructing how many
days a week, and is it acouple-month-long program?
that people can attend, howdoes that work?
And what would it look like ifthat funding was eliminated?
Those classes would go awaycompletely for the foreseeable
future?
Michelle (12:52):
Right.
We would go back to our oldvolunteer model, which is just a
once a week with an instructor.
So whether you're learningEnglish language acquisition or
another way, the instructorsthat we have allow for students
to have a more accelerated classlearning experience so they can
get through and achieve theirGED faster and easier that way.
(13:14):
The instructors are trained toteach.
They're certified.
They have ways to set up lessonplans.
They know how to Are there anyother
Christi (13:34):
programs or things that you're concerned about at the
federal level with the funding,possibly interruptions?
Michelle (13:41):
We are not.
We do get some money from theInstitute of Museum and Library
Services through the statelibrary.
It's about $40,000.
It helps us pay for somedatabases.
But that is a small amount ofour budget.
So it's not as critical for us.
I will say across the state, wejust had a meeting with
Colorado library directorsacross the state.
(14:02):
And we have nine libraries thatare in jeopardy of closing if
they lose that IMLS funding.
So they're in very rurallocations.
They're very small libraries.
And the money they get from thefederal government through the
Institute of Museum and LibraryServices is like their
collection budget, the entireamount of it.
So if you don't have acollection to offer the
(14:23):
community, then are you alibrary?
Yeah,
Christi (14:26):
then you're just a meeting space, right?
Right.
You mentioned volunteers in theGED program.
What kind of staff do you haveamong eight locations, paid
staff and volunteer staff?
I assume there are lots ofvolunteer opportunities for
people.
Michelle (14:43):
There really are.
So we have 105 library staff.
So people are often surprisedby that.
But when you're spread outacross eight locations, it
definitely adds up.
And we have over 200volunteers.
So they outpace, outnumber ourpaid library staff.
And there are so manyopportunities and options for
them.
We have volunteers that work onour Words on Wheels delivery
(15:06):
service.
So they pack up little bags andthings for patrons who can't
come visit the library.
And then we deliver that totheir homes.
We also have volunteers, likein the summer, we have teens
that help with summer readingprogram.
It's a wonderful way to growbaby librarians, as I found out.
So get them hooked in early,get them loving, serving
(15:28):
community and help others is agreat recruitment tactic.
We also have a discoverygarden.
We just had our libraryfundraiser there on Saturday.
And that is that space iscompletely grant funded to the
point where it's at this year.
For the first time, we actuallyhave a seasonal library staff
that's working there withvolunteers and the different
(15:49):
volunteer projects.
But otherwise, that's allvolunteers.
Christi (15:52):
That's the garden back behind the central library.
Yeah.
Unknown (15:56):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Michelle (15:57):
Studio.
Is studio part of the library?
to use for galleries and thingslike that around the country.
(16:30):
We've had whole gospel albumsrecorded there.
We have a professor at CMU thatdoes stopgap animation and he
overlays the sound there in thestudio and records the stopgap
part of it.
So that happens there.
We also have an artist inresidence program and that
person there, we have threeartists in residence a year that
(16:52):
are paid for by the libraryfoundation and they offer
programs to the community thatAnd the community can come to
them and visit them and whatthey're doing in the studio and
the artwork and that kind ofthing.
So whose brainchild
Christi (17:05):
was that?
And is that something that alot of communities have?
Is it was it modeled afteranother community?
Because I think it's just abrilliant thing.
And I've heard so many artiststalk about what a great resource
Michelle (17:16):
it is.
Thank you so much.
(17:37):
This is the emerging artistspace, the emerging creative
(18:00):
space that you go there when youdon't have the money to pay for
a professional studio to dothat work for you.
You learn to do it yourself,you figure it out, you build up
your career, and then you go tothe pay for studios and have
them do it.
That's great.
Christi (18:13):
One of the themes that we talk about a lot on the
podcast when talking a lot oforganizations is the
collaboration between differentorganizations.
Who would you say youcollaborate with most?
What kind of relationships doyou have with other
organizations?
Do you do things with CMU, theschool district?
What goes on with all of theseother great groups in town?
Michelle (18:33):
So that's one of the beautiful things about being
Western Slope is there is a lotof collaboration here.
And sort of the way I'vefigured out since I've been new
to the community six years agois that a lot of attention goes
to the front range.
A lot of resources go to thefront range.
And I think a lot of WesternSlope communities have had to
figure stuff out on their own inour rural places.
And that's what's happened herein Mesa County.
(18:53):
We work with arts and culture.
We work with education groups.
We work with nonprofits.
We're just all over.
We have opportunities at thelibraries at all of our
locations.
for communities tables soinformation tables from
different organizations to comeinto the library they can use
our community rooms and havemeetings and programs of their
own there's space for them to dothat very efficiently and
(19:16):
economically we also have arelationship with Grand Valley
Connects through the healthdepartment so this is a new
partnership that's probably ayear and a half old now and they
co-locate at the centrallibrary they're resource
navigators so people can walkinto the central library and
walk over to them if they have aneed or having an issue with a
(19:38):
resource.
One of the things that I'velearned is that trying to
unravel how we get benefits andhow you get resources is a real
challenge.
And that's one of the thingsthe public health department
figured out too, is that there'sa lot of people that qualify
for these resources in ourcommunity that were not getting
it.
So what were those barriers?
And those resource navigators,they will make phone calls, they
(19:59):
will go to appointments, theywill do a lot to remove those
barriers for community membersbecause the hard part sometimes
is just where do I start I don'teven know who to call first
absolutely and some people justdon't have the ability to make
phone calls and stay on hold orbe able to communicate with
someone on what they need sothere are a lot of challenges
that people have and we've justexpanded the partnership to the
(20:21):
Clifton Library so they'reTuesday afternoons now as well
Christi (20:25):
when when we sat down together we talked a little bit
about the different demographicsof people that use the library
and it's from you said birth todeath, really.
I mean, you're serving everyage, every
Michelle (20:40):
generation.
For the record, we have not hadanybody die in the library.
Christi (20:42):
Okay, good.
Or born?
No, no, I can't say I've had
Michelle (20:47):
that.
I've had a lot happen in mylibrary career, but not that.
Christi (20:51):
Try to stay away from that.
Right, yeah.
But it's phenomenal all thedifferent generations of people
that you are trying to attract,entertain in a way, keep
engaged.
How do you do that withdifferent programs and how do
you identify the most vulnerablepopulations that really need
(21:11):
the library?
Michelle (21:13):
Yeah, so we do focus a lot and we get a lot of access
to parts of our communitythrough our partners as well.
I want to acknowledge that.
And not only because we comeinto the library, you're not
self-identifying, hey, I need ahouse or whatnot.
So it's a little bit, there'ssome anonymous qualities to it
that help make it equal for alot of people in our community.
But we do work with a lot ofdifferent groups.
(21:36):
We do work with other nonprofitgroups to figure that out.
The community, we love toengage with them and get their
feed So they can suggest aprogram idea for us.
They can suggest material forthe library to purchase for
them.
We've done surveys in the paston our Library of Things
collection.
We know people love our culturepasses to check them out and
(21:59):
use those at all the differentcommunity spaces that charge
admission.
And so including the ColoradoNational Monument, just in case
you need a pass for a groupvisiting or some friends.
So yeah, those are all waysthat we help And another way
that I explain this and the waythat I see this happen at the
library is, you know,connections happen a lot.
(22:19):
We see caregivers meeting atstory time and suddenly they're
going out to coffee or they'respending a little bit extra time
after story time to talk andcompare notes about their little
ones and what they're doing.
But we also see it, and thishas been a challenge in our
community, our houselesspopulation also uses the
library.
They need access to publicrestrooms.
(22:40):
They need access to refillwater.
bottles, charge devices, usethe public internet and the
public computers at the library,and sometimes just a place to
get out of the elements, whetherit's heat or cold.
And so some people love thatabout the library, that
everybody's there, and otherpeople, it's a real challenge to
see that.
(23:00):
And the way that I think aboutthis is, you know, people, they
choose where you work and whereyou live and where you shop and
where you worship, but when yougo to the library, everybody's
there.
And so there's this amazingcrossroads that doesn't happen
other places in our community.
And that's what happens atlibraries.
And it's very unique and it'svery special.
Christi (23:19):
Wow.
I love that.
Yeah.
I mean, obviously, there aresome organizations near the
library that serve our unhousedpopulation.
And so they are a lot of thefolks that are in the downtown
area.
Yeah, are looking for places toget out of the elements and
things like that.
(23:40):
And is public open to everyone?
What are the hours of thedowntown library?
Michelle (23:44):
So the downtown library is open 9 to 8 Monday
through Thursday, 9 to 6 onFriday, 9 to 5 on Saturday, and
1 to 5 on Sundays during theschool year.
Okay.
You're testing me.
Christi (23:58):
That was good.
You know your stuff.
You know from the back to thefront.
Amazing.
I try.
Not always, but I try.
So what are the groups that youthink...
uh, maybe thinking that thelibrary is not for them, that
there's, there's not a space forthem or there's no resources
(24:19):
for them or, or kids in there.
I'm not very good at knowingthe ages of like the Gen Z, Gen
X and all that.
But, um, are there certaingroups of young people that
think, yeah, that's not my, myjam?
Or do you see wide usage fromall ages?
I
Michelle (24:34):
do see wide usage.
We do community research everyyear at the library, just to try
and keep up on what's going onin our community.
And one of the things thatwe've learned is our Spanish
speaking community doesn'tunderstand that the library is
free, for example.
And that's something that like,when we do our publicity, we
(24:55):
don't put free on everything.
Like it's a little bit of anassumed thing.
Like you need to have anunderstanding of library
tradition but on the other handshould we be assuming that
everybody knows what if youdidn't take your kids to the
library when they were littlewhat if you yourself didn't go
you wouldn't understand thelibrary ecosystem as it were so
kind of making that assumptionis something that we're
(25:17):
challenging ourselves with withnow as well um Anybody else that
doesn't use the library?
You know, I think a lot of whatI hear word of mouth to a lot
of neighbors and people like youcan get that at the library,
you should go to the library.
So it really is our hugecommunity of supporters that
help get the word out and helpencourage people to use the
resource.
Christi (25:38):
Awesome.
Thank you so much for joining
Michelle (26:07):
us.
And at the time, it was the toplibrary school in the country.
And I remember I applied, and Ilearned that.
And then I was like, Oh, no, Iwasted my money.
(26:28):
But they told me, they're like,Don't worry, you'll be really
happy with the outcome.
So that's what I did.
I was actually the secondcohort to go through a distance
program.
I was living in Oregon at thetime when I got my master's
degree.
So it was very early on whenthose were happening.
They're more common now andmore available to people
wherever they live, which is areally good thing.
Christi (26:49):
So do you love books for from a very young age and
was that something that yourparents really instilled in you?
Michelle (26:57):
Definitely.
My mom was a teacher.
So she always thought I wouldgrow up and be a teacher.
But really, she became alibrarian.
And I said, she grew up tobecome a librarian like me.
It's kind of our family joke.
But one of the things I wasjust telling our staff at our
last staff development day thatwhen I was a child, I wanted to
be so many things.
I wanted to be a librarian anda teacher.
(27:17):
I wanted to be a bus driver.
I wanted to be Wonder Woman.
I wanted to be interiordesigner.
And I got to be all of thosethings as a really brave things
for my staff in the past.
I've checked in and out on anawful lot of books.
I used to teach computerclasses when I was a baby
librarian, and I've built sixlibraries.
(27:38):
Clifton Library was my sixthone, the project that I had, so
I got to even do a little bit ofinterior design.
That's
Christi (27:44):
wonderful.
Well, we feel very lucky tohave you here in the Grand
Valley.
Have you enjoyed the transitionhere?
Very
Michelle (27:51):
much so.
This is a very dynamic anddiverse community, and I really
enjoy it.
It fits me really well.
I Yes, I love the outdoors.
That's become my mental healthhere.
Not just because COVIDhappened, but it's just been
been wonderful to hike and dothose things.
I lived in Oregon previously.
So hiking is a great place.
Christi (28:08):
So if somebody else that was listening or watching
is interested in libraryscience, have advice for them?
Michelle (28:19):
So there's a few conversations that I have with
people.
If you're an introvert, it'sokay.
It's a great profession.
One of the things that I findis that when you find your
passion, it doesn't matter howintroverted you are.
The passion will show.
It will draw you through andyou will be perfect.
Don't worry about that.
But also, you don't really getto read a lot of books on the
(28:40):
job.
I'm just going to be reallytransparent.
That really is not part of thework.
So kind of be careful.
If you really love reading andbooks and maybe look publishing
maybe looking at becoming awriter or a teacher from from
that standpoint because
Christi (28:54):
you're really running a big organization right yeah
absolutely not a lot of time forjust sitting down and reading a
fiction book and writing areview you know for the library
like i read this book absolutely
Michelle (29:05):
yeah and our librarians they work a lot on
connecting people to resourcesand accessing different
information for them and andless so on reading of course we
do recommend books too and we'rerather good at that but how
many librarians do you have ateach location So it depends on
how large or small.
Some of our really small rurallocation have a library
assistant in them.
(29:26):
And so we have librariansbasically at the central
library.
Okay.
And that covers children's andteens and adults.
Christi (29:36):
Do you want to talk about the free speech issue that
came up in the paper this week?
Sure.
Okay.
It's been in the paper andtalked about in the community
about some artwork that'shanging in the Central Library,
correct?
Michelle (29:50):
Correct.
So we have a recycled art bookshow up right now, and that show
had an open call for art fromour community.
You could submit artwork if youwere 16 and older.
The submission went to theLibrary Art Committee, which is
a group of staff there, abouteight of them, that vote on the
items individually.
And so that's how it gets agreen light or a If we're going
(30:13):
to accept it into the exhibit.
This one came up, it passed thecall for art, and it was given
to me to make sure that itpassed the art exhibit policy
that the library has in thecriteria.
It is political commentary, Iguess is kind of how I will
categorize it.
And the library does not makejudgment on religious or
(30:36):
political fronts, because whenyou serve the whole community,
there is everybody in thatspectrum all along the way
there.
And that also means thatthere's a lot of diversity of
perspective in our community.
So it is not expected thateverybody loves all art equally.
Well, that doesn't happen ever.
We all have opinions on what welike and don't like.
And so that is coming up withthis piece as well.
Christi (30:59):
It's a tough time for libraries with this issue
because books are art.
Yes, just as the paintings are.
And there are a lot ofperspectives.
How do you...
How do you navigate what is...
What is not allowed?
What is free speech?
I mean, to you, it's a freespeech issue.
(31:20):
And all the members of thecommunity should be able to
check out the books they want.
They should be available topeople, should be able to see
this art.
But are there things thataren't allowed?
Right.
Michelle (31:33):
So one of the things that we look at as like building
our collection as an example iswe really look at the data and
what is used in our community sothat we can really tailor that
to our community.
I also talked about therecommended purchase as well
that the community can do to getwhat they want in the library
(31:54):
from that standpoint.
What I find interesting nowthat I see happening is people
really want a very personalexperience at the library.
They want their books in thelibrary, the things that they
want to see in the library.
And fortunately, we all havethat mindset.
So what happens at the library?
There's going to be things thatyou don't want to see or that
don't match your values.
(32:15):
And it's one of the things thatwe say that we really depend on
parents to help drive thevalues of their family and have
those conversations with theirkids and to monitor what they're
using because it is a communitylibrary.
There is something foreverybody there, but it doesn't
mean everybody is for everybody.
Christi (32:32):
There have been some books banned from some federal
organizations over the last fewmonths.
Talk about how that Makes youfeel banning books.
I mean, that's something Ithink is an anathema to our way
of life in this country.
But
Michelle (32:53):
I mean, it's the First Amendment.
And there's a reason it's theFirst Amendment.
That's how important it was tothe people that created and
founded our country.
That wasn't something they'dhad before.
So access to information, nomatter what.
And ability to have opinions,your own opinions, differing
opinions than your neighbor.
It is still a beautiful thing.
(33:14):
It is still worthwhile.
It is still worth protecting.
And I think that's one of thethings that we're hearing from
our community right now.
Overwhelmingly, our communityis calling and telling us, thank
you.
We appreciate you.
This is important to us.
We want this in our community.
We want diverse perspectives inour community.
And they're not even talkingabout the artwork if they like
(33:36):
it or don't like it.
They're just saying that Thistenant is really important to
them personally.
And maybe that's just becauseit's become more important and
they've found their voice andwant to make sure that they let
us know.
And there are people that don'tlike that piece and are sharing
that with us
Christi (33:51):
too.
But that opinion matters also.
You want to hear from everyone.
Everyone's welcome at thelibrary.
All opinions are welcome at thelibrary.
Michelle (34:01):
Absolutely.
That's part of what makes us acommunity.
Yeah.
And I don't think it needs tobe divisive.
It's okay to not like the artpiece.
Christi (34:09):
How long is that particular art show running if
people want to check it out?
So it's
Michelle (34:14):
going to be taken down May 15th.
So get to the library.
You've got two more weeks.
Okay.
So if this is going to beposted next week, then we got
one week.
Maybe I should alter that andsay you've got one week.
You got till May 15th.
Christi (34:26):
You brought a sign with you today that I would love to
highlight.
Let's take a look.
Love Your Library 125.
Mesa County Libraries wasfounded in 1901.
1901.
Amazing.
That's how long a
Michelle (34:42):
legacy that this library has in this community.
Do you know where the firstlocation was?
It is near where the CentralLibrary is currently.
It's kind of one street overand one street.
It was a Carnegie Library.
There was a women's group thatgot together.
I'm guessing, I'm kind ofreading in between the lines
that they convinced their moverand shaker husbands to fund the
rest of the Carnegie promise.
But Carnegie gave money as longas the community provided the
(35:05):
land and the maintaining thatLibrary.
Unfortunately, it doesn't standtoday.
So there isn't a building todrive by and say, oh, that
Carnegie Library, which is hardbecause they're really beloved
and special.
They're really interestingbuildings around the country.
Christi (35:20):
So what are you doing to help celebrate this
milestone?
Michelle (35:23):
So right now, the 125th anniversary technically
starts in 2026, but we'reobviously getting an early
start.
We're going to get somecelebration out of this one for
a full year.
One of the things that we areworking on right now is a 125th
library video and we're goinginto the community and
interviewing community membersabout why they love the library
(35:45):
and to share their librarymemories if they happen to live
in this community from back inthe day so we are doing that we
have these signs that will beavailable to the community I
don't know the details yet wejust literally got them so you
can have this yard sign to putin front of the Christine Reese
crew we'll put it in front ofour book box there you go yes
awesome and then we're alsogoing to be doing another art
(36:07):
exhibit that celebrateslibraries.
So kind of something art that'sinspired by libraries.
Next year, we also are going tobe doing We used to have
library wine.
I don't know.
Do you, do you know of librarywine?
No.
Okay.
So we have the grape Gatsby andwell-read and it was through a
local winery that since sold.
So we don't have library wineanymore, but we're hoping to
(36:28):
find a partner to have librarywine again next year to help
celebrate the library.
And would that be a fundraiseralso?
That would be a fundraiser.
Yeah, definitely.
I'm trying to think what otherthings we're going to have a
special edition library cardavailable.
We're going to have somehistory programs available.
We in, the administrativehallway where my office is
located at the central, thereare some very overly large
(36:50):
historic photos of all thelibraries in our community,
including a bookmobile.
And so we'll hope to get thoseout in the, in the public areas
as well.
Yeah.
Christi (36:58):
Well, I just, I love your attitude and I love your
energy and I love everythingthat you're doing at Mesa County
libraries, just being soinclusive and welcoming to
everybody.
And I think for those peoplethat are watching that, um,
don't know all the things thatthe library has to offer, um, We
talked about there's resourcepeople, right?
When you come in, walk in andcheck it out.
(37:19):
Roam around.
Look at all the lists of thingsthat are going on and happening
from small kid programs tosenior programs.
And just a ton of resources forpeople.
Michelle (37:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
So one of the things that I amgetting a lot of questions on
lately is how people can supportthe library.
That's become very important toour community.
And I think generally, youknow, how do you protect the
things that you care most about?
So one of the things that Itell people is to get a library
card.
It actually does matter for thelibrary.
(37:52):
It helps our community.
statistics and our grantwriting and things like that.
But it also shows communitysupport.
If you if you get a librarycard, and it's pretty easy, and
you're already paying taxes.
So it's pretty, pretty easy todo.
Sign up for the library'se-newsletter, which you do
automatically get signed up whenyou get your library card.
So that's something that reallycan stay connected with what's
(38:12):
going on at the library.
We do have a board openingright now we have.
So if you want to serve thecommunity and be on the library
board, it is very impactful inthis day and age to be a library
trustee and to have thatprotective factor for the
library, but also to make surethe library is serving the
community and meeting its needsas well.
So it's kind of a dual role.
(38:33):
But you get to be my boss, andthere are seven trustees total.
And so that application isavailable on the county website.
The county commissioners doappoint those people for the
library per the library districtlaw.
You can also donate to theLibrary Foundation.
I mentioned that a few times.
They're also 30 years old, sothe Library Foundation is not
(38:54):
new.
And while they've largelyhelped with capital projects,
they're also working on otherthings too.
They support summer readingprogram.
They support Culture Fest andComic-Con as well.
So those are big signatureevents.
Comic-Con, right?
So great.
And then volunteering at thelibrary.
That's one of the things that Imentioned.
Doing a 125 anniversary videois another one.
So you can call the library andfind out how to sign up for
(39:16):
that and to get a spot there.
Send an email to countycommissioners and talk about how
you use the library and how youlove the library.
I just mentioned that theyappoint our library trustees, so
they like to hear how peopleappreciate the library and that
it's important to them.
Share your library stories withyour neighbors, with your
coworkers.
Just help spread the word.
And don't assume people don'tknow or do use the library like
(39:39):
you do.
Don't make that go there.
Read a banned book.
Find out what's going on.
We do annual displays at thelibrary, and that's one of the
things when we interact withpeople is they're surprised by
what books have been removedbecause they may have read them
when they were younger.
And they're curious, like, waita minute, I read that book.
And they don't rememberanything specific that would
(40:02):
have been alarming to them.
So it's a good conversation.
And then of course, bring ourstaff treats and show them
Christi (40:09):
love.
Michelle (40:10):
Seriously, being on the front lines of libraries
right now is really hard.
Let me be really honest.
Christi (40:14):
Thank you for sharing that list.
It made me think too, becausewe have the little library out
here in front of our office.
If people have books they wantto donate, is that something you
take regularly?
I mean, you have a lot ofbooks.
How do you handle people comingin with boxes and boxes of
books?
Because we see it a lot in ourindustry.
(40:35):
We have...
folks that pass away or moveinto assisted living and their
family is looking to rehome someof these books.
Michelle (40:42):
Yes.
So the Friends of the Library,the ones that take the book
donations, because they do theused book sales as a fundraiser
for the library, and they'relocated at First Congregational
Church across from GrandJunction High School.
And there is a cabinet there,so you can drop off books there.
If you do have loads and loadsof books, then there is a number
on our website for a volunteerto coordinate that delivery with
so that you're not just pilingup, I don't know, how many
(41:05):
books, 20 boxes of books orsomething.
like that.
So some people have a lot.
Christi (41:11):
What are you looking forward to the most in the next
year with your libraries,Michelle?
Michelle (41:16):
So the 125th birthday is a really big deal.
I go back to that and I thinkabout what it's taken all of our
library predecessors, our staffand our administration and our
board of trustees to get thelibrary where it's at today.
Last year, Mesa CountyLibraries was a finalist for the
National Medal.
(41:36):
That is a congressional medalthat is awarded to libraries and
museums across our country.
We were one of 13.
That's amazing.
in rural Colorado were one ofthose libraries that were
honored.
That's something you should beso proud of.
Thank you.
And we didn't get the awardultimately, but being a finalist
was such a shock to so manypeople.
(41:57):
Yeah.
I remember telling my staff themorning before the national
announcement came out, I hadbeen on embargoed for several
weeks, so I kind of knew andthey didn't know, and I was just
bursting to tell them.
And that was a career moment tobe able to tell staff that they
were so amazing, that they werebeing honored nationally.
Well, thank
Christi (42:21):
you so much for being our guest today.
Is there anything else you'dlike to share before we go?
Michelle (42:25):
Oh.
There's just so much.
I just love the community.
And talking about libraries isone of my favorite things.
So thanks for having me today.
Christi (42:34):
Yeah, really excited to have you here.
So encourage you, our listenersand viewers, to get to one of
the branches of the Mesa CountyLibrary.
Check it out.
See all the programs they havegoing on.
Use the public spaces.
Use the community spaces.
It's there for you.
This is your library.
Thank you, Michelle.
Thank you.
All right, everyone.
We'll see you next time on theFull Circle Podcast.
(42:56):
Have a great day.
Thanks for listening.
This is Christi Reece signingout from the Full Circle
Podcast.
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