EAGLE

History of the Eagle Public Library (EPL)

1963

• Eagle residents Ruth and Norval Ostroot organize a volunteer library in the community

1968

• Library moves into a rented building at 118 East State Street

1969

• Library moves into a purchased building at 67 East State Street

1974

• Library becomes a municipal, tax-supported institution
• Library building is remodeled to accommodate City Hall offices at front

1975

• First full-time library employee, librarian Diana Rutledge, is hired

1977

• Glenda Willis is appointed City Librarian

1980

• Ann Gallinger is appointed City Librarian

1981

• Friends of the Eagle Public Library first organized

1990 - 1993

• The Library Board contracts out the administration of EPL to Boise Public  Library

1997

• A $2.6 million bond measure to build a new library fails by three votes to get a required two-thirds majority

1998

• 77% of Eagle’s voters approve a $2.85 million bond issue to build a new library

1999

• EPL joins regional LYNX! Consortium; cataloging and circulation automated
• New 16,700-square-foot facility is dedicated on Stierman Way

2003

• Library Director Ann Gallinger retires; Library Director Ronald Baker is hired from Oregon

2003 - 2005

• First five-year strategic plan is written and approved, for FY 2005/06 - FY2009/10

• Boise begins paying reimbursement to EPL for providing excess service to its west end residents

2006

• First full-time Youth Services Librarian hired
• Horizon, a Web-based Integrated Library System (ILS), introduced
• Circulation passes 300,000 annually

2006 - 2007

• Annual budget surpasses $1 million

2008

• Collections pass 80,000 items
• EPL’s circulation to non-residents in Boise’s west end and rural Ada County surpasses 40%
• Boise announces it will cease cost-per-circulation reimbursement to neighboring  cities for providing excess library service to its residents during FY 2009/10

2009

• In April the Library Board agrees to a plan to reduce Library income $470,000   over a 17-month period in order to shore up the City’s General Fund; nine staff  members are RIFed, open hours are reduced from 58 per week to 40, and  collection development monies are radically reduced through September, 2010.
• Boise opens its first stand-alone, full-service library in the west end, on the  southwest corner of Cole and Ustick, and begins a campaign to redirect its  residents from EPL to the new facility.