MORGAN (AP) -- Kaysville librarian Kay Twogood is busy and cramped. Her library has doubled its story hour, but she figures they need twice the space they have now.
But she's better off than the Bessie Brown Library in Hyrum, where only 15 kids can attend story time and the rest are turned away. Or than librarians in Tremonton, where there is no office in the building.To find out just how to help Utah's overextended rural libraries, the state is taking on a $200,000 study, the Library Division announced at a meeting last week.
"In general, libraries in the state are in desperate circumstances all over," said State Library Division Director Amy Owen.
While larger libraries have a broad tax base from which to draw, libraries in small towns often get behind. To fill in the gaps, the library board has found itself asking for help from foundations, state library organizations and the libraries themselves.
Board members hope to complete the study this summer and take the numbers to lawmakers in time for the next legislative session.
The board held another hearing Monday in Ephraim, Sanpete County, to get more comment.
The purpose of the Morgan and Ephraim hearings was to get input on a proposed needs assessment to document library building needs across the state.
"At the meeting in Ephraim, we heard from local government officials and citizens and friends of the library about their building needs," said Chip Ward, development services manager for the State Library Division.
"We're not at the point where we're willing to put Coca-Cola labels on library buildings, but we're almost there."
In Ephraim, directors from rural libraries delivered the same message to the library division. Their aging libraries are not compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, are not adequately wired for the Internet and are out of space, the directors agreed.
At the same meeting, library directors acknowledged that building needs are primarily a local responsibility but that additional money to encourage planning is critical. Libraries used to have federal money available to help defray local costs. This was an important incentive for starting projects. But they no longer have federal funds available to stimulate local projects, Ward said.
He said the State Library Division's ultimate goal is the creation of a Library Challenge Fund. The fund, he said, would be a creative mix of privately donated money and state funds that would be available to local governments willing to bond for new libraries. In keeping with the planned funding arrangement, half the money for the needs assessment will also come from private donors, he said.
Deseret News staff writer Douglas D. Palmer contributed to this report.