Sterling Ranch breaks ground on library
An artist’s rendering shows what the new Douglas County Library at Sterling Ranch is expected to look like when completed. Douglas County Libraries Executive Director Bob Pasicznyuk spoke at the Aug. 26 groundbreaking ceremony.
Officials with Douglas County Libraries (DCL) and community leaders gathered on August 26 to break ground on Douglas County’s newest library at Sterling Ranch that will serve the growing community and give young residents a place to build early reading skills.
“Over half of our business is kids under the age of 7,” said Bob Pasicznyuk, executive director of DCL. “There’s no bigger indicator that kids are going to do well in school than if they read.”
The new 18,000-square-foot library will be built near West Titan Road and Taylor River Circle, across the street from future Douglas County School District Elementary School No. 51. The new library will replace the smaller DCL: Roxborough.
“We’ve worked out of a 5,000-square-foot rental for 20 years. This allows us to spread out,” Bob said. “It’s what we intended to do in Roxborough years ago but didn’t have the money to do it. We’re glad to be able to do it today.”
The $21.7 million project is being funded through the DCL capital savings fund and a land donation from Sterling Ranch.
Like other DCL locations, the new Sterling Ranch branch will have spaces for children, meeting and event areas, individual study rooms and outdoor gathering spaces.
“We try to make all of our facilities feel like cousins. You can see they are in the same family,” Bob said.
Construction is expected to take about 12 months. The building is expected to be enclosed this month or next which should help reduce weather-related delays and give officials a better idea of when the library will open to the public.
For more information, visit dcl.org/build.
Article and photo by Mindy Stone; conceptual image courtesy of Douglas County Libraries
