Pine Grove library fights to preserve history

Nearly 5-decade-old

BY MAYA DAWSON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

In the 1990s, a school bus would stop at the Pine Library in Pine Grove twice a week. Students would meet with their homework groups or use the computers, which had some of the only internet access in town. e bus doesn’t drive down to Pine Grove anymore.

Fewer school-age children live in the area now, and some older patrons have stopped checking out physical books, instead choosing to download e-books.

“Really, in the last ve to 10 years, things have changed quite a bit,” said North Fork Library Association President Patty Mcllvaine. “We talk a lot at our meetings about trying to stay relevant in the digital age.” e library has always been a nonpro t organization, sta ed entirely by volunteers. Facing a shortage of volunteers, the library recently shifted from being open three days a week to two.

“Growing and having the community use (the library) more would be ideal,” library volunteer Carly Martin said. “But obviously, just keeping it alive,” she added, would be enough.

To increase library access, a series of outdoor bookshelves on the side of the building are always open to the public, with books for sale for

$1 or less, paid through the honor system to a drop box at the front of the library. e library also o ers free WiFi 24/7.

“Sometimes we’re not even open, and people are parked and using our internet, which is ne,” Mcllvaine said. “ at’s what it’s there for. We want to be a community service.” e library has been serving the communities of Pine Grove and the neighboring Bu alo Creek since