Mountain View residents urge county commissioners to save MV Library

By BRADIE JILL JONES Herald Reporter
Posted 6/23/17

Mountain View library at county commission meeting.

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Mountain View residents urge county commissioners to save MV Library

Posted

EVANSTON — Community input was heard at the Uinta County Commission meeting on June 20, concerning the highly controversial proposed closing of the Mountain View Library.

Eyeing the crowd that had gathered to dispute the closing of the beloved library, commissioner Wendell Fraughton predicated the opening of the public comment section by joking that the wood panel in which the commissioners sat behind was bullet proof. 

The discussion opened with descendants of Virginia Davis, the Mountain View resident who originally donated the building to Uinta County, expressing heartfelt concern over what a loss this building would be to the community.

“She would be rolling over in her grave,” said Davis’ granddaughter, Nikki Walker. Davis had specified that the building be used as a community library.

Emotions ran high as community members pleaded with the commissioners to dig a little deeper into the budget for additional funding to save the library. Commissioner Eric South responded saying, “We can’t just pull it out of another pocket — we’ve been doing that for six months.”

This set of cutbacks comes in the wake of a 10-year decline in the oil and gas industry. The Uinta County Library Foundation is a quasi-government entity. The county helps fund the library foundation but it does not dictate how the independent foundation operates.

Some were concerned about many demographics in Mountain View, including senior citizens and low-income residents.

“This would be an unfair disadvantage to the poor in our valley” said Kelly Bonner, a local real estate agent. Many told stories of what a safe haven the library is for the children of the Mountain View community.

Picture:

A crowd of Mountain View community members approach the podium to address the Uinta County commissioners concerning the proposed closing of the local library. HERALD PHOTO/Bradie J. Jones