COLORADO SPRINGS — On Monday, the Colorado Springs City Council summoned The Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) Board of Trustees to explain why they voted to close the Rockrimmon Library Branch so abruptly.
Karla Powers and Veronica Baker are just a few of the people who are fighting to keep the Rockrimmon Library doors open.
“All of a sudden, we're just blindsided. It's been a bad situation,” Baker said.
“Utterly blindsided when I looked at the news the next day and found out they decided to close our library,” Powers said.
They said the library is an extremely important place in their neighborhood.
“We called a rite of passage. You go to Eagle View and make sure you make your trek down to at some point the library. If your mom can't pick you up right away, or you've got a project... you've got to do,” Baker said.
Baker and Powers are a part of the Save Rockrimmon Library Group. Despite the PPLD Board of Trustees voting to close their neighborhood library earlier this year, Powers and Baker said they are not giving up.
“It is important to us to have a place for our children to go and get resources for their homework and that sort of thing,” Powers said.
The group has raised nearly $60,000 to try to save the Rockrimmon branch.
“If finances are the issue, we don't want that to be a reason to close our library. We want to put our money where our mouth is and bring it to the Board of Trustees to say, 'Here you go, let's use this.' We all want this library to be open,” Baker said.
During Monday’s City Council work session, members of the Save Rockrimmon Library Group held up signs and PPLD’s board member Aaron Salt answered several questions from city council.
“I want to make sure that I'm being responsible, that I'm doing what I know is right by the district and by the community,” Salt said.
After discussing the budget, location, labor and other costs, Councilman Dave Donsolon is calling for the PPLD board to re-vote on closing the library.
“What we're asking for is please don't leave the northwest quadrant of the city. This area that's now serviced by Rockrimmon Library with no library service. Please don't do that. Please work with us,” Donelson said.
Donelson said there is no reason to rush the closing of the Rockrimmon Library, and the board should wait a year before shutting down the branch in order to find a better solution.
“This one year extension still gives you time to say, 'Okay, this isn't... the ideal spot we're going to move it, but it keeps the service intact over that one year.' So, I would ask you to put it on your agenda for your upcoming December meeting,” Donelson said.
Powers said a one year extension is exactly what her group has been asking for.
“Please just give us a year, let's work with you. Let's try to figure this out, because we can answer. Let's look at every single little issue that's holding this up, and just keep it open for a year until we can figure out what to do, because we really need a library in our Rockrimmon area,” Powers said.
She hopes the board will consider a re-vote. PPLD's next meeting is on December 4.
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