Kaysville library may join with county

KAYSVILLE — Call it pride, or a simple matter of self-reliance.

For years, Kaysville has operated its own library — a "city library in the middle of a sea of county libraries," says Paul Stokes, Kaysville library director.

But now the tides may be shifting.

After trying for years to raise money for expansion, and struggling in the wake of a failed $4.5 million building bond, Kaysville is considering joining the county library system.

Last month, city and county officials voted to study the feasibility of a shift in services. Now, the city's library board is getting to work — with city and county officials each month to review conflicts over the proposed shift.

A recommendation should be available for public review sometime in May or June, according to Bruce Allen, chairman of the library board.

"There's just an awful lot of detail to go over," he said. "This is really a unique proposal for a mature library to join a mature library system."

During the library board's February meeting, city, county and library officials debated two issues hindering a future integration of systems: The potential for extra taxes and the time-consuming process of re-coding books.

The job status of Kaysville librarians is also an issue, because qualifications for county librarians are different than city qualifications.

"Most of the administrative positions require college degrees," Stokes said. "We have some people that are concerned about their job status if, in fact, the county does integrate with us."

Either way, he added, something needs to be done. Kaysville residents have lived too long with questions about what to do with their too-small library.

"I believe it needs to be resolved," Stokes said. "It needs to be put to rest."

The Kaysville library has a collection of nearly 78,000 books and loans about 140,000 books each year. If the library is integrated into the county system, Stokes anticipates the book collection could change — taking on more "high interest" books and fewer reference tools.

County officials say they are open to adding Kaysville to their seven-library system but are concerned that some long-time residents consider the idea an effort to steal control.

Allen doesn't dispute the claims.

"There are some that say 'we like the hometown feel of our library and we don't want to be a part of the corporation,' " he said. "If we decide to go that way, we have to look at the pros and cons: Do we really want to give up our local library that everyone's used to and everyone likes?"

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com