Library reflects changing times
Evolution of Hailey Public Library continues
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
What are community libraries and what
should they mean to us? The answer over time may come to mean many things, as it
turns out.
The Hailey Public Library is a mirror of
the growth and changes taking place in the town of Hailey.
One woman reflects those changes, both in
her pursuits, her drive and her sophistication.
As the director of adult programs, access
and acquisitions at the library, Lisa Horton (or Mrs. Big Bad Bill, to you) has
helped to change the face of what this once small community library means to
patrons.
When the library moved from a small house
into the Fox Building in 1994, it was a lending library only.
A grant allowed the library to begin
offering some adult programs. Someone on staff was required to stay late to
oversee the programs and lock up afterward. Horton always volunteered. The next
logical step was for her to actually plan, write the grant applications and
organize the growing adult program.
It helped that Ann Tabler, library
director, is a team player. "Whatever you’re really interested in doing, she
knows you’ll do a good job," Horton said.
And Horton has a lot of interests. A
native of Arkansas, she earned a master’s degree in garden anatomy and remains
an avid gardener. Her husband Bill owns a music store in Hailey, across the
street from the library. The name of his store, Big Bad Bill’s, is a joke, she
said. "He loves kids."
Horton traveled extensively after college
and lived for a year in Paris while studying to be a pastry chef at the Ritz
Hotel’s Ecole de Gastronome Francaise Ritz-Escoffier. "It was the best year of
my life," she said.
Eventually she was recruited to run the
bakery at Ketchum’s Atkinsons’ Market, where she worked for six years. Horton
inevitably grew antsy with the job and began to look for a change.
"I wanted something in Hailey and
something with benefits," she laughed. "I also wanted something mentally
challenging."
Though she isn’t a librarian, she said
that her degree necessitated the ability to do a lot of research, which helps in
her current position. Besides running the adult programs, she handles all
inter-library loans, purchasing and subscriptions.
"We’re a close knit staff," Tabler said.
There are four full-time employees and four part-timers. "Everyone’s job is
multifaceted. Everyone enables everyone else to handle all their tasks. Lisa has
just done a wonderful job."
In the past, Horton has organized various
craft programs and historical programs, such as "Steinbeck Centennial," "We Are
What We Eat"—everyone loves to talk about food, Horton said—and the "History of
Mystery."
For the latter she brought in Rachel
Farnsworth of the Idaho State Police Forensics Lab to lecture on "Trace Evidence
for the Mystery Buff."
"Libraries these days are about
information, not just books," she said. "It can be films, health, anything. We
have to adapt to changing times. Libraries must become community centers."
In fact, Horton has been able to screen
films for some of these series. For instance, there’s a screening of the film
"To Kill a Mocking Bird" on Thursday as part of the current "Shaking the Family
Tree" series.
Horton and musician Michael White, from
Hailey, are hoping to create a musical series sometime in the future. After a
screening of a Woody Guthrie documentary last fall during the "Steinbeck
Centennial," White played Guthrie tunes to an appreciative audience.
Meanwhile, the library continues to grow.
In 2002, there was a 58 percent increase in circulation and a 66 percent
increase in membership.
"We like to think that people are
rediscovering the libraries. Once they’re here for an event they want to see
what else we have to offer," Tabler said.
The library, which is funded by city taxes
and the largess of the Friends of the Hailey Public Library, recently was given
the use of the entire first floor of the Fox Building by the city, adding
approximately 1,500 more square feet. Despite this increase to approximately
8,000 square feet, "federal suggestions are for at least 10,000 square (feet)
for a community this size," Tabler said.
The Friends of the Hailey Public Library
are purchasing all the shelving for the new space. They raise much of their
money with a Hailey garden tour each summer.
Horton maneuvers through the library with
a gazillion things on her mind. There’s the current exhibit on loan from the
Idaho State Historical Society on the history of Hispanic Culture in the state.
In April, she’s planning Día de los niños,
Día de los libros (Day of the children, Day of the books). There is a bilingual
reading series to work on, for which she received a grant from the nonprofit
organization Human Pursuits in Salt Lake City. And there is a Library Fiesta to
plan in early June, with foods, information booths and crafts. It will coincide
with the Hailey Farmers’ Market which is right out the library’s front door on
Croy Street, every Thursday in the season.
The "Shaking the Family Tree" series
continues with the books "Dating Big Bird" and The World Below."