Colfax Public Library celebrates 100th anniversary

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  The Colfax Public Library celebrated its 100th anniversary October 22 with a program in the Colfax Municipal Building auditorium.

About 50 people attended the celebration.

The Colfax Public Library opened officially in the municipal building October 7, 1916.

The library has always been open to all of the people in the community in and around Colfax, said Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library.

Prior to the municipal building being built in 1915-1916, there were little wooden cabinets around town with books in them where you could borrow books for reading. The wooden cabinets were called “traveling libraries,” said Troy Knutson, who gave the history portion of the program.

Knutson is the president of the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group.

In 1915-1916, the municipal building was built out of locally-quarried sandstone.

The idea that Colfax should have a library came from a ladies’ reading group, Knutson said.

One of the members of the reading group was Jennie Chase, co-owner of the Colfax Messenger.

In the March 5, 1915, edition of the Messenger, it was reported, “Considerable talk is being passed around on the subject of the erection by the village this coming summer of a building to be known as a municipal building with accommodations for a library room, auditorium room, fire hall, jail, and in fact, a general purpose building.

“Such a building would fill a long felt need for our prosperous little city, and it is to be hoped that an arrangement can be made whereby it will be completed and ready for use before autumn again recurs.

The Messenger is informed that a loan can be made from the state in such a manner that only the interest need be paid until the school loan is paid off, which would make practically no more burden upon the taxpayers than at present, and would supply a deficiency that our people badly feel the need of.

“We are informed that there is plenty of room on the village lot for such a building, so the expense of a building location is already disposed of, and the rentals that would be acquired as soon as completed, would make the building self-supporting and be a great convenience  to our people in general. Let us hope it will speedily come.”

In the May 5, 1916, edition of the Messenger, it was reported that the Colfax Municipal Building, “costing $23,000, is now under construction.”

In the August 18, 1916, edition of the Colfax Messenger under the heading “Special Notice”: “The Library Committee have had permission to use the Rest Room in the Municipal Building until the Library room is finished and will give out books on Saturday afternoon and evening of this week.”

Activities

The Colfax Municipal Building, in addition to housing the library, has been the site of a variety of activities over the years, Knutson said.

At one time, the building was used for basketball games, for roller skating, for dances, luncheons, flower shows, style shows, church services, blood donations, class plays and a place for Santa Claus to visit. Several funerals and one wedding also have been held in the auditorium, he said.

In years past, the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts met at the municipal building, and in 1919, the Cozy Theatre began to show movies regularly in the auditorium. Following the June 4, 1958, tornado, the Colfax Municipal Building was used as a triage center for the injured, Knutson said.

Restoration 

In 1998, the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group was formed.

At that time, Gail Svee was the village president, and she had received many phone calls about the building because it was dilapidated and boarded up. A man who had grown up in the Colfax area named Norman Larson had made many of the telephone calls, Knutson said.

Svee had asked Colfax resident Joan Scharlau to form a group to preserve the building. Fund-raising letters were sent out, and within six months, the group had raised $26,000, he said.

Since then the group has raised $220,000 through bake sales, donations, Music in the Park, mailings, grant awards and a variety of fund raisers, Knutson said.

To date, CMBRG has updated and replaced the electrical system in the building, has replaced the steps inside the front door, has replaced the stone pillars out in front, fixed walls, painted the auditorium, has had the stage curtains cleaned and rehung and has had the floor refinished in the auditorium, he noted.

In 2003, the Colfax Municipal Building was placed on the state’s Register of Historic Places, and in 2004, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Village of Colfax received a $180,000 energy-efficiency grant that was used to replace windows in the building and to update the heating and ventilation system.

More work

This spring, using money that had been set aside years ago for the municipal building basement, the Colfax Village Board contracted with a company to work on a drainage project around the foundation of the building and in Tower Park.

For years, the municipal building basement has not been used because of problems with water infiltration.

So far, the drainage project seems to be working to help dry out the basement, Knutson said.

What’s next?

Although there was some discussion last year about building a new library in Colfax, the idea ran into a number of problems and never seemed to gain any traction.

Bragg-Hurlburt, who began her position as director of the library last winter, says the Colfax Public Library Board is not opposed to the library staying in its existing location.

“The bottom line is that we would like to stay here longterm, if that’s what the people of Colfax would like and if there are the resources and enthusiasm for it,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

“I can’t make you any promises that the library will stay here forever because it is not all dependent on me. But I like it here, and I feel it has a lot of potential. But so much depends on the desire of the community at large and your willingness to get involved,” she said.

“Time, usage and a changing world mean that the parameters of this building sometimes feel like limitations. If our children’s area can only comfortably fit ten kids at a time and 20 show up for a program, that’s hard,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

“Similarly, if people in a wheelchair or others who have trouble walking want to attend one of our programs it can be a challenge to accommodate them. Years ago, if someone could not physically make it upstairs for a program in the auditorium, they just realized that and missed the program,” she said.

But nowadays, society’s attitude toward the handicapped has changed — and the law has changed.

“People around here are still nice and uncomplaining that way, but we want to be able to include them. Also it’s the law for public libraries to be available to everyone. So we need to do a better job of improving accessibility in this, our public building. As others have realized and discussed for years, and elevator or a lift system is needed to provide that access in a multi-floor building like this,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

Moving on

The Colfax Village Board has been discussing the possibility of the village offices and the police department moving out of the municipal building in the next three to five years.

“This is all hypothetical, and there are no firm plans in place. But if that were to happen, the library would be able to spread out into other parts of the building we are not currently using,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

“With a few minor structural changes to the interior of the building, we could easily expand our collection and our seating room and cultivate a more spacious feeling on the first floor,” she said.

“Probably the biggest need we have in order to stay in this building is an elevator. With an elevator we could access all the floors, including the basement. As many of you know, the basement was plagued by water problems for years, but recently the water problem was addressed and things are much improved.” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

“I would love to see the basement project continue with electrical work, plumbing and the construction of walls. Perhaps decorative arches could replace the structural supports that currently help support our heavy load on the first floor,” she said.

“It would be great to have the basement fixed up to a safe and usable condition that could function as a community room again. A space like that could help the library with overflow of children at large events and we could conduct classes or meetings down there as needed. The space could also be available for various clubs and organizations,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

“This is a lot to think about it. I wanted to let you know that these are my thoughts,,” she said.

“We are celebrating 100 years of the Colfax Public Library in this community so it is natural to take a look back as well as take a look forward. I like this building. Being new and fresh in this role, I have lots of optimism, hope and energy. There is no mortgage here, and it is beautiful and meaningful. I think it’s a nice place to be. We can do a lot here. And when I say ‘we’ I mean all of us. The restoration group, the library, the village and you,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.

The Colfax Public Library has a fledgling Friends of the Library group, and while there are a few interested members, the group has not been truly active yet.

Bragg-Hurlburt encouraged anyone who is interested in helping the library to consider joining the Colfax Friends of the Library.

“I have no doubt if we join forces and collaborate, if we are willing to take a chance on a shared vision, we can make incredible things happen. I want this to be the best public library that it can be, a jewel in the middle of downtown, a comfortable place where reason, imagination and learning are welcome, a repository of local knowledge and culture. It can be all those things if we work together to maintain and improve the excellent thing we already have,” Bragg-Hurlburt said.