New Parker Library is on Its Way

If you’re like most Parker area residents who use the Parker Library, you’re frustrated by the building’s lack of parking and rather cramp quarters.

Hope is on the way – in the form of a brand new library with fantastic parking!

Unfortunately, it looks like it probably won’t open until sometime in 2016. So we’ll have to keep driving carefully in that parking lot and dealing with the cramp space for a little while longer. But it’s always good to know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Parker Library will be built on a land set aside by the Town of Parker just north of the Pace Center and across Mainstreet.

The construction will be funded by Douglas County Libraries’ existing fund reserves, along with a multi-year fundraising campaign known as No Leaf Unturned. I’m sure you’ve seen the publicity about that multi-year effort to fund and build three new libraries in Parker, Castle Pines and Lone Tree.

Parker’s is the largest of three new Douglas County facilities. Plans call for 40,000 to 45,000 of square feet on two floors. The best news is that there will be more than 150 parking spaces. No more driving around a parking lot and hoping someone leaves!

If you are someone who uses the facility a lot and/or would like to contribute, you can learn more about No Leaf Unturned at http://www.noleafunturned.org/.

And if you’re one of those folks who has doubts about the need for a new facility, consider these facts about Douglas County Libraries:

• Staffed at about the same level as in 2006.
• Circulates more than 8 million items annually, up from 6.5 million in 2007 (about 24 percent more).
• Operates on property-tax revenues that have grown by 2.4 percent annually since 2007.
• Serves a population that has grown by 1.3 percent annually since 2007.
• Serves more than 2 million visitors a year.
• Serves more than 230,000 program participants annually.

Personally, I’m quite anxious for the new library to open. I hear it’s going to have some great family space, better meeting rooms and all sorts of new accommodations – not to mention the 150 parking spaces!