Thornton – The Perl Mack Library is perhaps the weakest link in one of the most distressed library systems in the state, but it’s like an old friend to Gloria Borjon.
Like many in the Perl Mack neighborhood, near Pecos Street and U.S. 36, Borjon saw her kids and grandkids learn and grow inside the narrow 6,000-square- foot library.
And Borjon, like her friends, can’t stand the idea that Perl Mack may be sacrificed to save the struggling Rangeview Library District.
Pinched by a meager budget, old buildings and a declining number of users, the district is considered the lowliest in Colorado.
Even district director Michael Sawyer struggles to find many positives. “The Rangeview District continues to lag in all categories and continues to be the worst in the state,” he said.
Still, Borjon refuses to believe Perl Mack is the district’s weakest link. “Who are these people to tell me we can’t have this library anymore?” said Borjon, her voice shaking with anger.
But district board members told a packed audience Monday night that if the district is to survive, they have little choice but to close Perl Mack.
Still, the library board voted Monday night – in the face of emotional pleas – to delay any decision on Perl Mack until a more complete study is done on the impact of its closure.
The board also received a petition signed by 221 people asking that the library be preserved.
“We have grown up with neighborhood libraries, and we can’t just discard them now,” said Thornton resident Ann Nunn, who presented the petition to the board.
Closing the 30-year-old Perl Mack branch would save the district $400,000, which it desperately needs to keep its five other branches and rickety bookmobile afloat.
“Our situation is just awful,” said Kay W. Riddle, president of the library district board.
If Perl Mack is shuttered in 2007, it would be the first time a library has been shut down without consolidation in the Denver metro area in at least 40 years, say local and state library officials.
The district operates on an annual budget of $4.5 million and serves the population of 300,000 in Bennett, Brighton, Commerce City, Federal Heights, Northglenn, Thornton and unincorporated Adams County.
But coming out on the losing end of three tax elections, including the most recent in November 2005, has taken a toll on the district, library stewards say.
In nearly every category measured for libraries that serve populations of at least 100,000, Range view is at the bottom. This includes the amount of local tax dollars paid by every person in the district ($13.73, compared with $40.32 statewide) to the number of library visits per person a year (two, compared with 5.6 statewide).
“They truly are at the bottom of the heap,” said Keith Curry Lance, Colorado State Library research director.
The district needs more than $300,000 to patch roofs, upgrade ventilation systems and fix ragged carpets. Meanwhile, the district has only 38 computers with access to the Internet.
“Some libraries have that many in one building,” Sawyer said.
Rangeview’s collection of books and DVDs is also slim to keep costs down.
“Most people go inside one of our libraries once and that’s it for them,” she said.
Perl Mack has one of the lowest circulations of the branches – 52,552 items were checked out in 2005 – and has steadily declined over the past nine years, officials say.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
