Jasper heading for new library
By SHARON KERR

A LIBRARY PATRON uses one of the terminals in the computer lab to file a government form.The Jasper Library on Water Street only has room for 12; plans for the new library recommend 30.

“We’re off and running,” reported Jasper librarian Denise Milton, who has been waiting months for confirmation that Jasper now has land on which to build a new library.

The Temple Foundation recently donated the west side acreage on FM 252 across from Jasper High School running from Bulldog Avenue to the back of the Holiday Inn property.

The south five acres is designated for a new library, with the Jasper Independent School District holding the remaining 20+ acres, possibly for a future school campus.

Temple Foundation board member Buddy Zeagler said, “The Foundation bought the land some years ago with the intent to use it for charitable purposes. When the school and the library approached us, we were glad to partner in this by donating the land.”

The Jasper Public Library on Water Street has needed to grow for some time, and in fact the building was originally planned in 1986 and constructed for that growth, according to Milton.

“The back wall was built as a break-away wall with the idea that we would need to grow,” Milton said. “But then FEMA came along and changed our low-lying designation from flood plain to flood way, and that nixed any opportunity to expand the current library.”

Cathy Park, director of the Harris County Library System, provided Milton with a survey of what Jasper really needs to meet current and projected population demands.

Jasper needs a collection of 80,000+, we have 37,000; the library needs 30 computer stations, has 12; needs classroom space for at least 12, has none; needs parking spaces for 100, has 20.

Other recommendations include a separate children’s area, quiet spaces for study, a meeting room to seat 100 (puppet shows and book signings currently utilize the fire hall across the street).

“Of course the new building would also be ADAcompliant,” Milton said. The American Disabilities Act sets standards for handicapped parking spaces and wheelchair accessibility, which the current library lacks.

To house all that, Jasper needs a 20,000 square foot facility; the current building is 4,800. The estimated price tag? About $3.5 million.

“Having the land is the starting point to launch us on the road to a new library,” Milton said. Now she can begin to look for grant money, donations and fund-raisers.

The Friends of the Library have been raising money ever since they received an anonymous $25,000 donation as seed money several years ago.

The Woman’s Civic Club holds book sales twice a year at Fall Fest and the Azalea Fest.

Other fund-raisers include the Round-Up Program, which asks residents to voluntarily roundup their electric bill to whole dollars each month. A few cents from every customer can add up to many dollars for the library.

Louisiana Pacific has teamed up with the Jasper Sanitation department to recycle newspapers at the facility on Temple Drive and Hi Truitt Road— more cash for the library fund.

The building fund now has about one percent of what they need.

“I’ve done it before,” Milton says, unfazed by the odds. She came to Jasper from a similar community, Demopolis, Ala. It is a town of 8,000 with an economy based on the timber industry, and that town pulled together to find what they needed to create a state-of-the-art library.

“Jasper can too,” Milton affirmed.

Kay Breidenthal, chair of the library board, says, “Denise is excellent at writing grants. She stays abreast of every new development and stays involved with library associations on the state level.

“The library is such a part of the community, and it says something about your community if you have an updated library as a resource.”

According to Milton, the library is a resource that serves a 50-mile radius. Use of the library has tripled since the year 2000.

“We have a huge population of retired people at Rayburn with very specific interests,” Milton says. “They utilize the inter-library transfers, where for $1 we can get just about anything from another library.”

Breidenthal notes, “The computer labs have an unbelievable amount of traffic, both older and young people using it.”

Any adult can walk in and use the computer lab. Milton says they’ve had people from as far away as Sweden use the computer lab. It is offered on a first come, first served basis for an hour at a time, no charge. (Children must have parental permission.)

People use the internet to file forms, research questions, get maps, follow up on hobbies, play games or email friends and relatives around the g l o b e . Periodically, Sue Dear conducts free classes for first-time computer users.

Milton says of Dear, “She can take someone who’s afraid to touch the mouse and have them surfing the internet in an hour.”

People can come back and repeat the class if they don’t quite get it the first time.

Milton says internet access has no more killed libraries than the introduction of television killed movies or radio. It has, in fact created more demand.

“When people get interested in a subject, then they want to get their hands on everything they can to learn more,” Milton says, “and there are so many more forms, not just books, that we can get for them.”

Milton gave the example of a John Grisham book, which typically will be available in regular print, large print, books on CD or tape, and on a new Playaway digital audio system, a selfcontained book that plays on a $2 set of earphones the user must purchase.

Then there are the periodicals, magazines, movies and music, and the greatest resource— the librarians who are trained to help people ferret out whatever interests them.

Demand for library services is likely to grow. Breidenthal says placing the new library close to schools is “such a wonderful thing for Jasper. Just think how important it is to put reading as a value into their minds while they are young.”