Over 100 residents gathered at Rockrimmon Library on Oct. 26 to organize a campaign to prevent the library from closing. During an Oct. 16 meeting, the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to not renew Rockrimmon’s lease after Nov. 30, citing a $1.2 million maintenance backlog, Rockrimmon’s proximity to other library locations, and the expense of Rockrimmon’s lease.
“In June 2024, the board received a preliminary Facilities Master Plan report (FMP) and was presented with the final report in late September during the Board’s annual retreat,” wrote Dora Gonzales, president of the PPLD Board of Trustees in an Oct. 17 letter to the public. “Since June, the trustees have been thoroughly reviewing and considering the report’s findings and recommendations and realized they needed to make some hard decisions about how PPLD should proceed.”
Colorado Springs City Councilor Dave Donelson addressed the capacity crowd of concerned citizens. “I met with the [PPLD] CEO and two board members of the library on Aug. 8, and I was told – because some of you were contacting me, and saying, ‘Hey, they’re going to close the libraries,’” said Donelson. “It sounded unlikely. So, I met with them, and I was told, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not going to happen this year, in 2024. We will make the decision in 2025 or 2026.”…