We are so excited to announce that we have finalized the leases on TWO locations for the Bonneville County Library. Though we had anticipated to announce them separately, the leases for both were finished at the same time, so we have double the great news! We expect to have both branches open to the public by October 1st, 2022. We have also met with IFPL recently and had some positive conversations concerning recent disagreements, and we expect good things for both the county and city libraries moving forward.

Ammon

Artist’s rendering of our BCLD signage at the Ammon location.

For our Ammon Branch Library, we have finalized the lease on a 7,000 square foot space in the Teton Spectrum building on 25th East. We are remodeling the space formerly occupied by Lane Bryant, which is adjacent to Bed Bath and Beyond and Deseret Book. The address is:

3015 South 25th East
Ammon, ID 83406

We believe this will be an excellent location in the prime retail area of Ammon. We’re pleased about the large, open floor plan, excellent parking, and convenient location for residents shopping in Ammon.

Trustees Rebecca Blackson and Jennifer Crofts at the Ammon Lease signing.

Currently, our remodeling projects include electrical work, creating a conference room, and cosmetic changes such as updated flooring and paint. We anticipate the projects will take about four weeks, and then we will be ready to start installing bookshelves, furniture, and books!

We plan to host an open house soon so that residents may tour the space, talk to our director and library trustees, ask questions, and see visualized plans of our library.

We will also have many opportunities for volunteer help—especially moving, sorting, cataloging, and shelving books. If you have a few hours to spare and would like to join our exciting endeavor to create an entirely new library, please join our Friends of the Bonneville County Libraries Facebook group so you can hear about our volunteer meetings. We also will have updates on our website at Volunteer/Donate.

We anticipate our Grand Opening will be October 1st. We can’t wait to see you there!

Westside

The newly renovated space at the Westside Branch.

Trustees Debra Haacke and Karen Harris at the Westside lease signing.

Planning a westside location has always been a high priority for the BCLD, and we listened to many of our resident’s concerns that Ammon was too inconvenient of a distance for many living on the west side of Idaho Falls. Serendipitously, we found a perfect opportunity for a westside branch much earlier than anticipated. We have just finalized the lease on a 1,300 square foot space in an office building located on Skyline Drive. The address is:

250 South Skyline Drive STE 6
Idaho Falls, ID 83402

Though it will be a small branch, it will be a much closer location for many residents west of Idaho Falls. All of our branches will have a connected collection; books may be requested for transfer from and pickup at any branch. We will also offer a myriad of services and programs, including regular story times.

The building owners are finishing up cosmetic remodeling of the building, and the BCLD is able to take occupancy on July 1st, 2022. Though it will take us a few months to have the library open for business, we are going to hold our upcoming Board of Trustees meetings at this location. As always, the public is welcome to attend! Our next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, July 12th at 10:00 am.