The Gypsum Public Library started as a bunch of children's books in the trunk of a car.

That was in 1995. Last week, the town's new 10,000-square-foot library had a soft opening on June 27.

“About 550 patrons went through the building the first day,” said Gypsum's town manager, Jeff Shroll. “Ever since the library was built onto the Town Hall, about 10 years ago, we have been discussing a free-standing library on the municipal campus. Serious discussions about actually constructing the library started about 24 months ago — to the day of our first phone call/meeting with the architect, the library opened.”

The new building is much larger than its old space in Town Hall.

“The new library allows us to offer more programs,” said Children's Librarian Janet Jay. “We couldn't do reading programs at the same time because we only had one room.”

Now, there are sections for adults, teens and children, including a story-time room and a crafts area complete with a cleaning station.

“We have almost doubled in size and have shelf space for roughly 30 percent more books,” Jay said. “This is also the first library in the Eagle Valley Library District to have a craft area.”

The library staff is also excited about a program room that has already hosted Bravo! musicians and will host a variety of other artists and events in the future.

“If you ever have any ideas for things to use the program room for that would educate or inform the public, please share them with us — the sky is the limit,” said Becky Brackett, Gypsum Library's branch manager.

In addition to the program room, the building also has three meeting rooms, a large one and two small.

“One tutor was absolutely excited about having the small rooms to work in,” Jay said.

The teen room features three computers and a large magnetic board, and will soon offer video games and movie screenings.

The adult section boasts a fireplace.

“The Gypsum Library has always been child-oriented, but now, with the new space, we want to make it a place that is comfortable for adults as well,” Brackett said.

Construction

The building's final cost ended up close to $1.2 million, which was split between the town of Gypsum and the Eagle Valley Library District. The budget was for about $1.7 million.

“The town paid for outside work, the library paid for all the furniture, fixtures and equipment,” Shroll said. “Both jurisdictions paid cash for their portion from money saved up for the project. No debt was incurred by either entity. This project is a great example of two government agencies working together — a fantastic team effort.”

Ross Morgan, a Gypsum town engineer who was a leader for the project, said the whole process went smoothly.

“There were no major hiccups,” he said. “From the initial request for qualifications, to the final product, we are looking at a timeline of just over 16 months, with no cost overruns. RA Nelson has done a lot with a relatively small budget.”

Morgan predicted the new library will be something the whole community will cherish for years to come.

“It's been exciting to see the project move from an idea to final product,” he said. “It's very gratifying to walk the new library campus and see how well everything came together.”

Morgan stressed that the library was built with community-wide support.

“The Eagle County Commissioners generously donated money for the children's reading area and screened porch, while the American Gypsum Company LLC donated all of the drywall and Scott Green Excavation donated time to help with the installation of services,” Morgan said. “It was with the help of all of these groups, that this library was built in a timely manor while also staying on budget.”

Green features

The library planning and construction team implemented environmentally friendly building practices as much as was financially possible. Thus, not all of the building is “green,” but a reasonable amount of it is.

“In an effort to manage building costs, we looked at technology that not only was green, but was also reasonably priced,” Morgan said. “Various green technologies were examined, and we decided upon technology that provided the maximum benefit for the lowest cost.”

Brackett said one of her favorite green features of the library was solar-sensing windows. The windows sense how much sunlight is coming into the building and adjust the lights accordingly to save electricity as much as possible.

“The solar-sensing windows are a great example of a fairly low-cost, green technology that provides a great benefit in terms of lower utility bills,” Morgan said.

New manager

The staff at Gypsum's new library is nearly the same as it was when it was in Town Hall. Only one position was added — Brackett's job as branch manager.

“Julie Richards was doing double duty as the manager and the teen librarian,” Brackett said. “She stepped down from this position to focus her efforts as the teen librarian.”

Brackett recently moved to Gypsum after working in Vail for a long time. Her background is in management and public relations, and she is enthusiastic about the new possibilities she will have at the library.

“I heard about this job and thought it sounded so cool,” she said. “I'm looking forward to expanding the book collection and making this place a hub of activities.”

A grand opening

For now, the hours of Gypsum Public Library will remain as before. It will be closed weekends and open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Fridays. The library can be reached at 524-5080.

A grand-opening celebration is planned from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, which is during the week of Gypsum Daze and the town's 100th anniversary.

“It's projects like this one, that make me proud to live in this community,” Morgan said. “The team has been great to work with and we have a great new library. It doesn't get much better than that!”