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| Placitas Library Opens New Chapter with Federal Dollars |
December 12, 2005 |
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Wilson Worked with Locals to Secure Reading Funds
 Placitas, NM – Reading is a cornerstone of a child’s education, says U.S. Representative Heather Wilson, who announced today that she secured $350,000 to help build a community library in Placitas, NM.
“The village I grew up in had a town hall, a volunteer fire station, a church, a post office, a small village store, an elementary school and a public library. The library was where children gathered for story time and started to dream of a world beyond the village. It was where mothers gathered for reading groups and the town historical society had tea,” says Wilson. “Placitas has grown. It needs a real library.”
The funding Wilson secured will be used to build a library that is open to the public in Placitas. It was included in this year’s Housing and Urban Development funding bill, which passed Congress on November 18, 2005 and was signed soon thereafter by the President.
Rep. McCoy and Senator Cravens have already secured $50,000 in state funds to support the library and have vowed to secure further funding to supplement the federal dollars announced today.
“Libraries bring people together and are often the heart of small communities. I am delighted that we can all help to reward the hard work of the folks who initiated this project,” said Representative Kathy McCoy.
“We really appreciate Congresswoman Wilson’s work to secure this funding,” says State Senator Kent Cravens. “We mustn’t underestimate the positive impact such a facility will have in this area, where families currently have to drive miles to get to a library. Rep. Wilson understands the power of a book and how it can take you anywhere, whether you’re a child or an adult. Visiting the library is just a great family activity, and it will soon be possible in Placitas.”
The Placitas Community Library is a non-profit entity that operates the public facility in Placitas. Currently, the facility operates in a temporary space tucked amongst some Piñon trees off of Highway 165. The facility is open three days a week for a total of twenty hours per week. The library also operated an early childhood literacy program with story time for four hours on Friday mornings throughout the last Summer.
“Kathy and Kent also deserve a lot of credit for their work in Santa Fe to support this project,” said Wilson, acknowledging the state legislators who represent the area.
The new facility, planners say, will provide a student learning/research center with Internet connection, recreational reading areas, and meeting rooms for seminars and community meetings. Additionally, it may include a museum area dedicated to local history and housing archival documents primarily from the Las Huertas Land Grant.
The total project cost is projected to be $650,000, based on a recent library project in neighboring Rio Rancho.
Library operators conducted a random survey of Placitas residents to find out what library services residents wanted. Priorities included recreational reading materials, current background on world events, student research material, and children story telling.
“We’re so very happy that Rep. Heather Wilson’s support for funding for this library gives us an incredible opportunity to build a community and meet our neighbors,” says Sue Strasia, the President of the Placitas Community Library organization in Placitas. “We really appreciate her support of our local efforts. Sometimes, you embark on a mission like this and don’t quite know how it will work out. Rep. Wilson has delivered in a way we never imagined, and now this project is well on it’s way.”
“My family and I love our local library in the North Valley in Albuquerque. It`s a warm, inviting place where children learn to love books. I look forward to coming back to Placitas when you open. Maybe there will be a magic wardrobe you can step through and enter another world,” joked Wilson, who says she is re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia with her children this Christmas.
In anticipation of renewed interest in C.S. Lewis` classic stories, Wilson donated a set of the seven books in The Chronicles of Narnia to the library.
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