First, thanks to all the Town citizens who took the time to fill out the survey I issued requesting feedback on Superior’s library issue.  This library issue has been complicated, with much diversity of opinion.  I felt I needed to get some organized feedback from many Town residents.  Happily, I got what I asked for – more than 360 responses!  Your responses to the quantitative questions (provided below) plus your detailed and thoughtful responses to open-ended questions were very very helpful.

Second, I provide a brief half-page summary of the survey results (Section II), followed by a longer description of the conclusions (Section III).  This comes both from the quantitative responses AND from your written responses to detailed questions. 

Finally, for those interested in detail the full listing of the survey responses can be seen in the link below.    

SUMMARY

The majority of citizens want this addressed SOON (it has dragged on!).  From the survey, I read that citizens use libraries and are willing to pay for library services, but do not want to be charged high amounts without better cooperation and decision-making / representation input by the Town.   The respondents are divided about whether we should negotiate with Louisville for library services, or work with Boulder or Broomfield.   When informed about the problematic negotiations with Louisville, support moves away from working with Louisville toward working with other communities. 

The survey seems to suggest that we should continue to negotiate with Broomfield and Boulder in good faith, and become active participants in the regional library system.  This allows access to area libraries of Superior resident choice.  I believe this will be successful, is positive, is likely to be cost-effective, and links us to numerous library options easily.  However, if this is not successful within a month or two timeframe, we should re-approach Louisville (incorporating the findings on citizen willingness to pay, and representation issues).  If negotiations remain unsatisfactory with Louisville, Superior can take one of two tacks:  1) short term, consider a Superior-based storefront (or some Board members have talked about space in / near / added on to Town hall) with library-linked search computers and children’s books and reading program; 2) see if some of this need can be addressed with agreements with Boulder Valley School District (which we may want to pursue regardless of any other arrangements), and 3) revisit the issue of a library ballot issue.   A committee can be established to identify the best options matching 1).

The survey indicates that citizens in Superior would also like us to make sure the newspaper gets the other half of this two-sided issue, which Louisville has dominated.  This should probably await successful conclusion of the negotiations.

Thanks again for your input, and please feel free to contact me at Skumatz@serainc.com about this or other topics.

[Full Library Survey Results]