Ucon celebrates opening of new public library
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UCON – Ucon officially has a new library, and members of the community gathered for a grand opening and ribbon-cutting Saturday morning.
The 2,000-square-foot building at 10918 North Yellowstone Highway was less than three months in the making. Community members pitched in time and resources to make it happen.
It’s the Bonneville County Library District’s fifth location to open up in the last two years, and its director, Michelle Tolman, tells EastIdahoNews.com “it’s inspiring” to see how much has been done in that time.
“We have (catalogued) almost 10,000 items in this library, and we have many more to go,” Tolman says. “It makes you feel so good that a community cares about a library enough to come out and make it happen.”
In addition to thousands of new and used books — some of which were donated by the community — the district’s Ucon branch offers educational resources to the public. Some of those resources include kits with books, games and activities designed to prepare children for kindergarten.
Electronic resources, such as Libby, give patrons access to more than 219,000 digital titles. There’s also Scholastic Digital, which includes thousands of children’s books, curated educational videos and themed lesson plans. These programs can be accessed for free at the library but would otherwise cost money.
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This, along with the ability to have a community gathering space for events and activities, are some of the benefits of having a local library, Tolman says.
“I’ve already had people ask if they can host a game night or a book club here. That’s what it’s for,” says Tolman. “We want it to be a living library with heart. Our goal as a team is to treat everyone like they’re a library friend.”
The Ucon library is inside a building formerly occupied by Fybercom. Its central location in town combined with its size made it an appealing spot, says Tolman.
The library district is currently renting the building. The goal is to eventually buy it, which Tolman says would save taxpayers money in the long run.
Other libraries in the Bonneville County Library District include an Ammon and Westside Idaho Falls branch, along with Swan Valley and Iona.
The Ammon branch first opened in 2022 more than a month after the library district opted not to renew its service agreement with the city of Idaho Falls. Since 1981, the county had paid an annual service fee to the city so that county residents could check out books and have access to resources at the Idaho Falls Public Library without paying a $120 nonresident fee.
The addition of five other locations gives patrons in other parts of the county additional options.
Though there was some initial contention between the city of Idaho Falls and the county library district when the entities parted ways, Tolman says the working relationship has greatly improved.
“Things got tense because we had a different point of view than they did, but I love seeing our librarians connect with their librarians as we get together for trainings or other activities. It’s been warm and friendly, but it will still take a little bit of time (to build bridges),” she says. “I hope, in time, that we’ll help each other out and share resources.”
“We can overcome anything together, but we have to have the right mindset,” Tolman adds. “We have to let go of ego and pride and say ‘what can we do to move forward?'”
During the grand opening, Ucon Mayor Craig Sturman praised the efforts of the library district in bringing a library to the community for the first time in its history.
He’s looking forward to seeing people use it.
“It’s neat mostly for the kids. They can’t run to Idaho Falls, but now they can hop on their bikes and run down the street,” Sturman says.
The Ucon branch is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. It’s open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
