After over five years of fundraising, a generous and anonymous donor recently stepped forward to make a big difference for the Clancy Library and the communities it serves. Gone is the piece-meal, hand-me-down checkout counter and, in its place, a beautiful, functional space tailored to serve the library patrons.
In 2011 beloved founding member of the Clancy Library Kathy Bovee died unexpectedly. Her family directed donations to the library purchasing the lovely wooden bench that now resides in front of the video section.
Recognizing that one of the key needs in the library was for an improved checkout experience and workflow, the Friends of the Library unanimously set aside the rest of those funds for a new checkout counter. In the last year, an anonymous donor stepped forward with a $5000 check to make the dream a reality.
Robert Ferguson of Montana Living Direct, located in Montana City, custom-built the set of counters and hanging shelves to fit the space, patron and staff needs. He and his partner Dave Roskelley then worked with volunteers (huge thanks to the Pancichs, McKinseys, and Clarks) to get the entire thing installed in half the time so that the library wouldn’t have to close a day.
Patrons continue to comment about how much larger the room feels and how much more efficient it is (the library can now handle two lines of patrons at once). Staff members are thrilled with the new efficient design that has enough space to fit everything.
MC Pancich, children’s librarian, said, “This past summer we provided a ten-week Summer Reading Program for 248 of our young patrons. Next spring, we’ll be able to access and organize activities and prizes because they’ll be right at our fingertips. I can’t wait.”
Library Director Carly Delsigne said, “Last fiscal year our district libraries received 54,707 in-person visits and provided 47,485 items. Clancy Library is the workhorse of our system for things like processing new items and interlibrary loans. The storage and workstations provided by the new design streamline workflows which frees up space and time to make serving patrons well the focus.”
She went on to say, “We’d like to thank our donors, Friends of the Library, and volunteers for making this possible. We invite everyone to come in and check out our new space.”
