Bozeman Public Library

On April 15, 2005, a raw day full of snow squalls, that symbolic first shovel of dirt was turned on the site of Bozeman’s new public library. More than one hundred people hunched against the bitter wind on the barren, weedy lot. Despite the bleak weather, spirits were high. City commissioners, library board members, library staff, donors, a group of elementary school children, volunteers from various boards and committees ignored the weather to celebrate this tangible moment in a building campaign that had already lasted the better part of a decade.   

“Today the Bozeman community takes a wonderful step forward,” said State Librarian Darlene Staffeldt.

The wintery ceremony was fitting. Nothing about the building process had been easy or smooth; why should that change just because it was ground-breaking day?    

The high spirits were fitting, too, because despite the obstacles and setbacks that had cropped up through those years, the library project had been one infused with community energy, volunteerism, good-will, and dogged stamina in pursuit of the vision of a library worthy of Bozeman -- a building that would warrant civic pride for decades to come.     

“Eight years ago, when I came to Bozeman, this was the goal,” said Library Director Alice Meister. “Finally we’re doing it.”

Another eighteen months went past before that shovelful of dirt transformed into the new Bozeman Public Library. Bit by bit a new civic era on the east end of town began to take shape. The site that had been unusable for decades, insulted by pollution, overgrown with noxious weeds, fenced off from the public, looked more and more like the building that for so long had only been real on paper--concrete pours, massive beams hoisted into place, roads and parking areas scraped flat, walls going up, a roof in place, banks of windows. Then, finally, in October of 2006, the building was officially completed and signed over.      

The new library stands as a symbolic gateway on the east end of historic downtown Main Street. Set back from the busy traffic corridor, it nestles against Lindley Park, the site of Bozeman’s annual Sweet Pea Festival. To the south, library land blends into Burke Park and Peet’s Hill. Several community trails connect to or continue across library property, adding to Bozeman’s expanding Main Street to Mountains trail system. In front of the library, between the building and Main Street, a large, landscaped circle is designed to address the need for an outdoor gathering spot for community events.     

The building itself, designed by the architectural firms Overland Partners and StudioFORMA, blends traditional and modern elements to both tie in with the historic district and create a contemporary look. The roof soars upward from south to north, showcasing the view of the Bridger Mountains from the second floor at the front of the building. High open ceilings and wood beams create an open, airy feel throughout the interior of the library.  

 One of the goals of the Library Board from the start, later reinforced by a generous, $500,000 grant from an anonymous donor, was to embrace green, environmentally-friendly design features and construction practices. As a result, the Bozeman Public Library stands out as just the fourth Montana building, and the first municipal project, to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certification.  

The certification process is a rigorous one. Points are awarded for everything from recycling of construction waste to energy efficiency, from water conservation to the selection of building materials.      

In the new building, solar panels festoon the building roof, some toilets use no water at all, and special ventilation systems efficiently disperse any tobacco fumes. In addition, the Two Dot Wind Company, located near Martinsdale, Montana, has agreed to donate the first two years of library power supply. It is a real achievement to earn LEED certification, and even more impressive that the new library won enough points to be awarded Silver/Gold [we need to hear which] LEED status.      

A great deal of thought, input from library staff, and advice from library experts went into the functional operation of the building as well. Open lines of sight from public desks, the location of the welcome desk near the front door, and housing the children’s library on the first floor were all conscious, pragmatic decisions incorporated into the building design.

“So many libraries are aesthetically pleasing, but lack some basic functional requirements. We wanted to be sure our library would incorporate both,” said Meister. 

In keeping with the public appetite for good coffee on every block, the library includes a coffee shop and bookstore operated by the Friends of the Library. Seven percent of coffee sales, and earnings from the continuous used-book sale go to support library needs.     

Bozeman is a community that has demonstrated an incredible appetite for library services. Library users check out more materials per capita than in any other major library in Montana. Reference questions have increased 38% in the last decade. The public meeting room is booked up months in advance. Overall circulation of materials has gone up six percent in the last year alone. 

The new library meets those demands by more than doubling its former square footage, to 52,300 square feet. The clamor for meeting space is addressed through a conference room and larger Community Room, complete with baby grand piano. Twenty-five new computer stations are available to patrons and visitors. Quiet study rooms, a Teen Corner, and an expanded Montana Room add important features to the library. 

On October 8, 2006, the old library on Lamme Street officially closed. That milestone was celebrated with a Book Brigade, when more than two thousand library supporters lined up to pass books, hand to hand, the five blocks from the old library to the new. The event was an echo of the 1981 brigade that passed books from the former Carnegie Library on Mendenhall to the building on Lamme. 

It was a windy, cool afternoon, but predicted rain squalls held off during the event. Some 3,000 books from the children’s library traveled down the double line of volunteers. It took each book about twenty minutes to make the trip. Along the way, people exclaimed at familiar volumes. Kids sometimes stopped to open a favorite before reluctantly passing it on. The high school Drum Line marched back and forth along the route, library staff wearing orange vests rode bicycles to make sure there were no gaps or snags, and downtown traffic was redirected for more than an hour.

 For the next month the library staff took on the gargantuan task of moving and reorganized the reminder of the 113,000 books and materials currently housed in the library. Back in 1981, when the library moved from the Carnegie building, the collection was a mere 40,000 volumes. 

Finally, on November 12, 2006 the doors opened on Bozeman’s new library. Members of the public filed in, looked around, got their bearings, took stock. Library staff settled in. People acted like new homeowners, trying out the fixtures, taking in the views, checking out the furniture. 

As J.B. Bancroft, former Library Trustee and Chair of the Library Building Committee, said at the blustery ground-breaking ceremony eighteen months earlier, “The real excitement starts now. The community is going to be surprised at what we do!”

~ Alan Kesselheim has been a freelance writer based in Bozeman since 1982. He has also served on several boards at the Bozeman Public Library over the past twenty years.