[New post] Library a key cog in Briggsdale community
Jerry Martin posted: "BRIGGSDALE — Caden Carter of Melba, Idaho, sat in the shade on a bench in front of the small sunflower-yellow building, waiting for the Briggsdale Community Library to open. The 14-year-old's family was staying at the nearby Crow Valley Campground and " Greeley Tribune
BRIGGSDALE — Caden Carter of Melba, Idaho, sat in the shade on a bench in front of the small sunflower-yellow building, waiting for the Briggsdale Community Library to open.
The 14-year-old's family was staying at the nearby Crow Valley Campground and he wanted to use the library's Wi-Fi.
The free service, a feature of the Public Computing Center, is just one reason why the library is important to the 134 residents in this dryland farming and ranching community in central Weld County.
The Center was installed four years ago by the Greeley-based High Plains Library District.
"Dr. Matthew Hortt, the district's executive director, came here in 2018 to meet with a focus group," said Patty Bodwell, president of the BLC board of directors. "He asked what we wanted. We told him we needed Wi-Fi for kids who don't have it at home."
The Briggsdale Community Library once housed The Briggsdale Banner weekly newspaper. (Ed Otte/Special to the Tribune)
An open house in June 2019 was an opportunity for people to learn about the new technology. In addition to Wi-Fi, the Center has a MondoPad with a computer, smart board and online hosting capabilities.
"We are thrilled Briggsdale Community Library is willing to host a Public Computing Center for their community," Dr. Hortt said. "Visitors staying at the Crow Valley Campground in Pawnee National Grassland are also welcome to use our Wi-Fi service. No library card required."
The Center is part of the District's outreach to "underserved communities." The HPLD's bookmobile visits Briggsdale on the first and third Wednesday of each month.
According to Bodwell, the Wi-Fi quickly became popular with adults and children.
"A lot of people come in to use it," she said. "Home-schooled kids use it. Business people will park in front and use it. It's amazing."
Books remain the heart of the library operation.
Floor-to-ceiling wooden shelves hold hundreds and hundreds of used hardcover and paperback books in the three small rooms.
There is an intriguing mix of old and newer fiction and nonfiction books. One shelf holds 34 Nancy Drew Mystery novels dating back to the 1950s.
"All of the books are donated," said Verda Ball, 85, the BCL board treasurer and a lifelong Briggsdale resident. Board members who work at the library are volunteers.
The six board members are women ranging in age from late 50s to 95.
An old-fashioned feature in the building's front room is a wooden card catalog, donated by the Weld County Library.
"Oh, it's functional," Ball said. "We're still on that kind of system.
What do people read?
"A lot of ladies like to read inspirational books," Ball said. "People enjoy history books. And books about Colorado. Little kids, if their dads are farming, they pick a lot of those books. Preschool kids like activity books. Westerns used to be popular but not so much now."
Books can be checked out for two weeks. "Most people return them after one week," Ball said. "Sometimes they go longer than two weeks when they're busy or can't get into town. We don't have fines for overdue books."
The library sits on the corner of Main Street and Third Avenue across unpaved streets from the post office and the Briggsdale Market.
It once housed a print shop and The Briggsdale Banner, a weekly newspaper that folded in 1939. Lucille Armagost donated the land and building in 1986 to the library.
After a new roof and ceiling were completed and the building painted, it was time to move into the library's new home.
"There were some books in a store on this block across the street," Ball said. "They got 18 or 20 volunteers to form a line and pass the books to here."
The library, which hosted a preschool for more than two decades before the Briggsdale School offered the class, conducts a summer reading program for preschool to sixth grade students each Wednesday afternoon.
The card catalog was donated by the Weld County Library. (Ed Otte/Special to the Tribune)
"We have 28 children in the program this summer," Ball said. "We have a different theme each year and this year it's Space. We have activities and prizes for the more books they read.
"People realize the need for children to be able to read well. Reading opens up a whole new world to children's thinking."
The library is also a venue for social events that help nurture community ties.
Activities include a holiday cookie exchange in December ("Please bring three dozen of your favorite home baked holiday cookies to exchange with others."), Halloween party in October, yard sale in July, tea party in January and a seed swap in March ("Bring veggie or flower seeds from your garden marked well with variety and color. Don't have any - that's ok. Bring small bags or envelopes to mark and take seeds home.")
The annual Antiques, Crafts and Bake Sale in November in the school gym is the library's fundraiser. The event includes a lunch with donated food. Last year's menu featured roast beef, mashed potatoes, vegetable, rolls and homemade pie.
"We were founded on donations and we accept donations now," Bodwell said. "The crafts fair and lunch raise enough money to keep us open another year. What money we have left goes to the summer reading program."
Ball said, "We don't have an exact budget set up, but I'd say we have close to $2,000 this year. We have just about enough right now to get through to November."
On warm summer days, such as the late July afternoon when the Idaho teenager visited, the library's front door and windows are open and a small portable fan circulates the air.
Cold winter weather presents a different challenge with higher heating expenses.
"Electricity and water are reasonable," Ball said. "Filling our 500-gallon propane tank used to cost $300. Now it's $600. We couldn't afford to open on some days in the winter."
In addition to the price doubling for propane, Bodwell said the library faces another problem.
"Right now, we need a new furnace," she said. "I think it's about 40 years old. It's dead. It won't even come on and it is leaking.
"We need four thousand bucks for a new one. I'm not sure what we're going to do. I'm thinking about going to a GoFundMe campaign."
— Ed Otte is a former editor of the Greeley Tribune and a former executive director of the Colorado Press Association
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