Public library to open next
year
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
Early next year, a public library for all residents
of Tippecanoe County will be available, thanks to the Tippecanoe County
Public Library and Ivy Tech State College.
The library, which is expected to be opened on
Jan. 14, 2002, is the product of a partnership between the county library
and the state college. Both Tippecanoe county residents and state college
students will be permitted to use the two-story, 35,000 square-foot
facility.
The land where the new library will be located
was provided by Ivy Tech, and the building was made possible through
the county library.
"It’s all been pretty much integrated,"
said Tom McCool, executive director of marketing and communications.
"They are in charge of the construction with our consultation and
input. Our part is to maintain the building once it’s built."
McCool said the new library, which will be located
on the corner of U.S. 52 and Creasy Lane, will be a great addition to
Ivy Tech’s campus.
"It brings to our campus the liberal arts
type of library collection that would take us a long time to build and
with a lot of expense to our campus," said McCool. "It’s
a big bonus to our students."
The new library’s standards will meet those
of the Tippecanoe County Public Library’s, said Scotty Patterson,
interim county librarian.
"Because it’s ours, I would hope it’s
the same," she said. The standards set before the new library are
high ones. In November of 2000, American Libraries magazine announced
that the county library had been ranked fourth among all U.S. libraries
by the Hennen’s American Public Library Rating, a national study
of U.S. libraries.
Patterson said the reason the Tippecanoe County
Public Library was ranked highly was simple - it’s a good one.
"It’s a matter of being fiscally responsible
with the monies generated by the taxpayers and using that money wisely
for those taxpayers," she said.
Patterson also attributes the library’s success
to a staff that is "willing to go the extra mile."
The Tippecanoe County Public Library serves a 500
square-mile radius, a population just under 120,000.
While West Lafayette is not included within this
area, residents with good standing at the West Lafayette public library
can obtain a membership for the county library.
Patterson said the library’s main goal is
to be the number one information provider for the county to anyone,
no matter who they are.
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