Library heading to Snowmass Village
The Pitkin County Library, in partnership with the town of Snowmass Village, is exploring the idea of putting a satellite library in Snowmass Town Park.
“If you can kind of imagine the Recreation Center, between the gymnasium and the main gallery, that’s what we call the ‘donut hole,’ and that’s where we’re looking to place this library,” said Andy Worline, the town parks, recreation, and trails director.
There will be a new structure built and attached to the existing structure in the area. F&M Architects, a local architecture firm with roots in Snowmass Village, have been contracted to provide Pitkin County Library with architectural design services for the Snowmass Village Library project.
“Flynn Stewart-Severy has a family in Snowmass Village …. He has a great team behind him, and they also have great library experience. It was a no-brainer getting them on board,” Pitkin County Library Director Genevieve Smith said of one of F&M Architects co-founders.
Smith said they are in the programming phase of the process and are working to decide if what can fit in the space will be useful to the community.
“We’re thinking a really vibrant space for children and families, a meeting space, a study space for people who work remotely … high-school students, college students who need a quiet place to sit down and study, but also bigger meeting spaces for boards, HOAs, things like that,” she said.
The library will also provide event space for things like speaker series and author events. Smith said they hope to be able to bring classes of preschool students to the space for storytime events, like they do at the library in Aspen.
“These are the main things we are focusing on at this point to see if those kinds of activities can happen in the rec center footprint. We have a great team thinking very creatively, and I think we can bring something really magical,” she said.
According to her, Pitkin County Library would staff this library with their well-trained, professional librarians.
“Connecting people with information and ideas is our mission,” she said.
Town Manager Clint Kinney added that the library fits in with Town Council goals of increasing community engagement and ensuring public spaces and facilities meet the community’s unique character.
“This is a project we think has good legs and we’re excited to get it off the ground,” he said. “The council has had this goal for several years, it just takes some time to get the momentum going.”
Council member Tom Fridstein called the plan “exciting” and fellow council members echoed their approval.
“We’ve been asking for this for a long time so it’s great,” he said.
To reach Audrey Ryan, email her at aryan@aspentimes.com.
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