PROVO — Utah County Commissioner Steve White inadvertently touched off a lively discussion about a potential countywide library system recently.

White simply wanted to know if the local mayors at the Council of Governments meeting would allow residents from the unincorporated area to use their libraries in exchange for some improvement money from the county. White said the county is looking for a more efficient way to spend the money currently being used to run the bookmobile service.

"Contrary to what many believe, there is no county library or county library system at this time," White said. "We currently spend $120,000-$130,000 a year maintaining the bookmobile operation for about 3,500 residents, of which only a third use the service."

What he found were mayors who are fairly anxious to find a way to maximize library use and make it available to everyone — for a fair price.

Mayors of cities without libraries were particularly interested in discussing the creation of a county system.

"We ought to talk about a countywide system," said Highland Mayor Jess Adamson. "It would be a benefit to everyone in the community. A county library system would operate better than a bunch of citywide systems."

Alpine Mayor Phil Barker said his city is currently looking at investing more than a million dollars in a library. "We're interested in pooling our resources," he said.

"Twelve years ago, I made a motion that the county buy every nonresident a library card (for $50-$100 each). It went nowhere," said Vineyard Mayor Rulon Gammon. "We've wasted now $100,000 every year when we could have spent $35,000 instead of $100,000. It just makes good sense."

"We need to step out of the box. There is a way to do it," said Woodland Hills Mayor Toby Harding.

Mayors of cities that have built their own libraries were more cautious.

Lehi Mayor Ken Greenwood said most community leaders and most people have no idea of the real costs involved in providing a library. "Our concern is if we increase our overhead based on our benevolence," said Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn.

Orem and Provo already have an interlocal agreement that permits cardholders to use libraries in either city.

"I think we who have not invested in a library have an obligation to pay some of those costs," said Lindon Mayor Larry Ellertson.

Commissioner Jerry Grover said a great deal of research has been done into the feasibility of developing a county system, but (the effort) has been blocked by territorialism and funding.

"We can talk again," he said.

Council of Governments Chairman and Springville Mayor Fritz Boyer said he will talk with the commissioners and develop a couple of proposals to bring back to the mayors that could then be explored by a committee or study group.

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