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Culbertson library gets go-ahead
CULBERTSON, Nebraska -- With $52,050 in their checking account, the "Friends of the Library" in Culbertson, Nebraska, has permission from the village board to seek proposals to build a new public library.
"We are looking forward to starting the process," librarian Cindee Wagner said Tuesday, after a fund-raiser Sunday helped bring the total of donations and pledges for a new library to $52,050. "To see the support and the commitment from the people -- even those who have moved away -- it is absolutely unbelievable. It touches our hearts."
The Village of Culbertson has donated two city lots in downtown Culbertson, and contributed $100,000 to the project. The new library will face south, looking onto Wyoming Street at the corner of Davenport.
Cindee said library supporters like the efficiency and functionality of a steel structure, probably 60 by 70 feet, but they also want something with character, some architectural feature of some sort that gives the structure personality. "We don't want to become a downtown of steel buildings," she said.
So, they would also consider proposals for a stick-built structure that would not only meet the needs of a library, but also their desire for the "homey" feeling, inside and out, of the community's original library -- a traditional bungalow in a neighborhood south of downtown that the Culbertson Women's Club transformed into the village's library in 1937.
"This bungalow has memories for lots of people," Cindee said, as she hears from donors who came to the library as kids, those who brought their children here. "I find them fascinating."
Cindee, her library board members and supporters of the library want something turn-key, "so that when it's finished, we can move in with our books," Cindee said.
For more information, contact Cindee at the library, (308) 278-2135, during library hours, Tuesday and Wednesday, 3 p.m. until 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.; and Saturday, from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Cindee said the fund-raiser Sunday went so far beyond her expectations, not only in attendance, but also in the generosity of donors and the support of bidders in the auctions and raffles. "We were worried because of the weather," Cindee said, but cold temperatures and the blustery winds didn't appear to discourage people from attending.
"We had 186 people register, but that doesn't include the kids," she said. "And there were many who didn't register."
Cindy said that Willow Creek Meats had provided pulled pork for 300 to 400 people, "And we ran out of meat, and we only had a couple salads (donated by supporters) left."
Cindee said she had "a great group of girls who worked for me" the evening of the fund-raiser.
Cindee and her "Friends of the Library" have page after page after page of donors. "We can't thank everyone by name in the newspapers, and we really wish we could," Cindee said. "But please know, we do thank every one of you."
She thanks library supporters for their continuing support as well, as project organizers still need to collect donations to complete the project and move into the new library.
THUS FAR -- Cindee emphasizes that this list is by far not complete, as she knows people will continue to support the library project -- these are the new library's major donors:
BRONZE, $1,000 to $2,499.99 -- J.L. Construction, Fred Weber, Kenneth Kolbet, Riley Morthole, Culbertson Fire Barn and Rex Solomon.
SILVER, $2,500 to $4,999.99 -- Roger Kolbet, Roland and Jeanette Miller.
GOLD, $5,000 to $9,999.99.
PLATINUM, $10,000 and above -- Jerry Solomon, Jerry Gohl.
Anyone wishing to donate to the library effort may send donations to the Culbertson Public Library, P.O. Box 327, Culbertson, NE 69024; or to the Culbertson Community Foundation, 507 New York, Culbertson, NE 69024. Please indicate on checks that the donation is for the library construction project.
Both the foundation and the library have 501(c)3 tax-exempt status.