New York, NY, June 7, 2008— It is no accident that more than
80 percent of the residents that Laramie County Library System (LCLS)
serves have library cards. Cutting-edge technology, a newly constructed
building, highly effective publicity, dedicated staff, exemplary service
to the city of Cheyenne and the county, all of these reasons and more
make Laramie County Library System of Cheyenne, Wyo., Library
Journal and Gale
Cengage’s 2008 Library of the Year. Each year Library Journal
and Gale Cengage select a library whose high standards, innovative services,
and commitment to their community make them extraordinary.
LCLS’s success is due in part to a recent and carefully planned
vision that grew out of its relationship with patrons. After years of
operating in a cramped and “dingy” environment, the library
received 55 percent of the resident’s votes for a proposition
that added a one penny per dollar sales tax to the state’s five
percent for the sole purpose of building a new main library. The new
library’s design embraces the capital city’s urban and civic
character, as well as the wide open spaces of surrounding landscape.
It also achieved a Gold certification as a LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), making it a shining
example for local developers and citizens.
The main building, the system’s two rural branches, new bookmobile,
partnerships with the community college and University of Wyoming, the
2003 launched Literary Connection, a two-day event featuring five acclaimed
authors, and strong partnerships with agencies and organizations such
as the YMCA, Cheyenne Boys and Girls Club, and Susan B. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation, exemplify only a portion of LCLS’s outreach
efforts.
In addition, LCLS offers targeted programs tailored for homeschooling
families and age groups ranging from infants to seniors. More than 200
homeschool families get regular mailings and specific programs to meet
their needs; small group computer classes are offered to older adults;
and the 40 adolescents that make up the LCLS Youth Advisory Board meet
monthly to discuss and plan teen services and collections.
Laramie County Librarian Lucie Osborn will outline LCLS’s success
story when the library is honored at a special ceremony on Monday, June
30, during the annual American Library Association conference in Anaheim,
CA. The award includes a $10,000 cash prize.
For more information and to read the feature article that appears in
the June 15 issue of Library Journal Magazine, visit www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6568073.html.
Judges for the award were Norma Blake, State Librarian, New Jersey State
Library; Leslie Burger, Immediate Past-President, American Library Association;
Tina Creguer, Senior Vice President, Circulating & Trade Publishing,
Gale; Meribah Mansfield, Director, Worthington Libraries, OH; Susan
K. Nutter, Vice Provost & Director of Libraries, North Carolina
State University. Judges also included LJ’s Francine Fialkoff,
Editor-in-Chief, John Berry, Editor-at-Large, Rebecca Miller, Executive
Editor, and others.
For more information on the Laramie County Library System, contact Troy
Rumpf, Manager, Community & Media Relations at (307) 773-7225 or
trumpf@lclsonline.org.
For more information on Gale, contact Tina Creguer at (248) 699-8442
or tina.creguer@cengage.com.
For more information on Library Journal, contact Francine Fialkoff at
(646) 746-6807 or fialkoff@reedbusiness.com.
