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| Placitas Library Gets $350K |
December 13, 2005 |
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View KOB TV news story
By Elaine D. Briseño
Journal Staff Writer
Placitas is 350,000 steps closer to a new library.
That`s because Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., has managed to secure $350,000 in federal funding for construction of the new library.
Currently, Placitas has a small community library that opened in May 2004 through the work of volunteers. Since then, the Sandoval County Commission has purchased four acres off N.M. 165 for the library, and Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque, and Rep. Kathy McCoy, R-Sandia Park, helped get $50,000 from the Legislature.
Wilson made the announcement about the funding Monday during a visit to the community library, which is housed in an old garage. She donated copies of the seven-book series "The Chronicles of Narnia."
In a phone interview Monday, she said the recent release of the movie should pique the children`s interest in the classic book.
Wilson reminisced about her own upbringing in a small town with a community library.
"The library was the center of the community," she said. "Particularly in small towns libraries are important. (The community library) is jam-packed with books and it`s great, but they need a permanent place."
 Heather signed the flyleaf and donated a family favorite,
a volume of the seven-book set of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
Wilson said she was impressed by the drive and organization of the volunteers and the progress they have made so far in starting a library.
Susan Strasia, president of Placitas Community Library Inc., said she and others in the village began the effort to start a library in 2002. The opening of the community library was a big step in the process and getting the federal money, she said, also is significant.
"I was just so overwhelmed," she said. "We have so much community support to build this library. Everybody believes it is a good thing and has helped us out."
 The group wants to build a 3,500-square-foot building with a meeting room. Strasia called the construction phase 1, saying that as the community grows, the library will get more rooms.
She said the total cost of phase I, including construction and site development, would be about $1.5 million. She said her group will try again this year to get more money from the state.
Most of the current library`s books, she said, were donated by the community. The community library provides Internet access, reference assistance and many fiction and nonfiction books.
It is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Since October, the library has had 695 patrons and has checked out 720 books. |
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