Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

The new Washakie County Library is going to happen! Can you hear the heartbeat?

It was a little weak but now it is getting stronger. It is coming from downtown Worland, Wyoming. We are going to inject the heart of our downtown area with the public library. We are more than ready to leave the old hospital at 1019 Coburn Ave. It has served us well but and it needs to move on to other purposes, to be reinvented, upcycled, and changed for the good of the community. Our present building will be sold and moved back onto the tax rolls. We may be using downtown space for a library but we are also creating a business opportunity by vacating our current residence.

The merging in the downtown area of the library in the downstairs of the Ace Hardware building with the Chamber of Commerce, and other county offices along with the Washakie County Development Association upstairs, will most likely do some great things downtown. If the heartbeat of a community starts with the library, the pulse can only strengthen with these partnerships. I expect that if the county is awarded the grant they are pursing, downtown Worland will see an increase in activity and become an example of partnerships that can be created in small communities. Worland very well could become the shining star in Wyoming on how a small community could work together to revitalize their business area on main street. We thank all business owners and residents who wrote comments and letters of support for this project.

We have posted the design plans at both the Washakie County Library and the Ten Sleep Branch for you to view. We welcome your visit and hope to answer as many questions as possible.

The Public Library Association outlined the following eighteen public library service responses. I am sure you will see areas you yourself have utilized in your local library.

Be an Informed Citizen: Local, National, and World Affairs

Build Successful Enterprises: Business and Nonprofit Support

Celebrate Diversity: Cultural Awareness

Connect to the Online World: Public Internet Access

Create Young Readers: Early Literacy

Discover Your Roots: Genealogy and Local History

Express Creativity: Create and Share Content

Get Facts Fast: Ready Reference

Know Your Community: Community Resources and Services

Learn to Read and Write: Adults, Teens, and Family Literature

Make Career Choices: Job and Career Development

Make Informed Decisions: Health, Wealth, and Other Life Choices

Satisfy Curiosity: Lifelong Learning

Stimulate Imagination: Reading, Viewing, and Listening for Pleasure

Succeed in School: Homework Help

Understand How to Find, Evaluate, and Use Information: Information Fluency

Visit a Comfortable Place: Physical and Virtual Spaces

Welcome to the United States: Services for New Immigrants

We always have fun things happening within our walls. The Washakie County Library will be hosting “Soup and a Show” on Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m. We will be watching part 3 and 4 of “The Sheep Eaters” and dining on a cup of potato, corn and bacon chowder. There is limited seating so please call the Worland Library at 307-347-2231 to sign up. This program is supported by the Friends of the Worland Library.

The Friends of the Ten Sleep Library will be hosting a craft night on Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. “Journal Making” will be the topic and we will be recycling old books. Bring your own book or use one of our discards as we repurpose a book. There is no charge but you must be at least 16 years old and sign up is required. Please call The Ten Sleep Library at 307-366-2348.

Remember: “Bad Libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities.” -R. David Lankes