Logan Library expected to open March 4

The city of Logan is expecting to open a new library on Main Street this year. The project was originally proposed over 15 years ago and is set to be completed with a ribbon ceremony this March, according to Mayor Holly Daines. 

Karen Clark, the library director, has worked in her position since 2017 and had a long stint working with the library.  

Clark said although the opening ceremony has been pushed back, they have been succeeding in important aspects of the project, such as budgeting. 

“The library budget hasn’t been spent up, but the construction budget is almost up,” Clark said during the Logan Library board meeting. 

According to board member Joseph Anderson, the larger budget was a welcome surprise. Logan has largely been on a “shoestring budget,” as a board member put it, to keep the library and its resources available and up to date. 

“The history of the library serving Cache County, Utah is valuable to our history,” Anderson said. 

In 2016, Logan celebrated 100 years of having its own library. Back when “Ms. Crockett” became the first librarian to serve the city, the 1916 library looked a lot different than it does today. 

“The U.S. archivists helped me find that in a very first catalog,” Anderson said. “It advertises the whole library at 1,500 items.”  

The collection has grown from 1,500 items to thousands of books available. 

According to Clark, the new structure is mostly built for more amenities and areas rather than more books. 

“We always continue to add new items all the time,” Clark said. “What we added more into our new library is more community safe space and more space for people. And so I think when you see the other meeting rooms and the space, you’ll understand that our shelves aren’t going to be as tall.”  

The Friends of the Library organization has also been a crucial help for Clark and her team. 

“They get money, fundraise and run book sales,” Clark said. “For the longest time, they built all this and advocated for the program library.”  

Initially, the library was funded by both the city of Logan and Cache County. As time went on, the county increasingly moved to decrease their own funding from the program. Eventually, the library became solely funded by Logan City, leaving its directors with a tight budget and needing support for the project.  

The city has seen an eventual fund built just for the library and its needs, with the new library initially seeing a budget of over fifteen million dollars, according to a statement made by Daines. 

Clark has been hiring new staff, with many to interview, with one of the new employees moving to Utah from Wisconsin. Clark said staff start moving in on Feb. 1.  

Daines announced the library has also received $1.5 million in donations towards the project, including $200,000 from the Cache Valley Bank, $200,000 from the Paul Willie Family Foundation and $100,000 from the former Logan City Mayor Craig Peterson. 

The children’s area of the library received a $1 million donation from Dell Loy Hansen and his family. 

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the library is expected to be on March 4.