Renovated Rawlings complete

By Rory Harbert

With a cut of a ribbon, Pueblo-City County Library District marked the end of a two-year-long project updating the 110,000-square-foot facility.

On March 22, PCCLD and nearly 200 ceremony attendees celebrated the successful completion of the $12.5 million renovation project for the Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library. The event was held on the fourth floor in the Ryals Grand Event Space.

The event began with an informational video which informed viewers of the impact the Rawlings library has had on the Pueblo community and then explained what improvements were made during the renovation. According to the video, the Rawlings Library has hosted more than 4,000,000 visitors in its 20 years of operation and checked out nearly 9,000,000 items from its collections. More information on what these renovations entail can be found on the PSJ website or the March issue.

Jane Rawlings, the daughter of Robert Hoag Rawlings, the Pueblo Chieftain publisher at the turn of the century and the library’s namesake, shared how the award-winning facility came to be. Jane Rawlings is the president of the Rawlings Foundation, which donated “$500,000 or greater” towards the renovation and were one of three thanked within that category in the promotional brochure given to attendees. Jane humorously spoke on how her father was approached with supporting the library’s first major and over-budget architect plan.

“[the board behind the 2003 architectural project] convinced him that libraries on one hand and newspapers on the other hand were a perfect match for literacy, for historical preservation of the written word, of communication... and that it made sense for Mr. Rawlings, my dad, to add some money to that pot,” Jane said. “It was a lot of money.”

Jane Rawlings said that, at the time, the InfoZone Museum was an important part, for her father, in representing this unity between libraries and newspapers, as it was initially focused on journalism and its history. Jane Rawlings shared her enthusiasm for the refreshed interpretation of the InfoZone, now moved from the fourth floor to the main floor for easier access, as she encouraged listeners to give it a visit after the ceremony. She credited retired exec director Jon Walker with the idea of revitalizing the museum to reflect the current changes in communication.

“The history from communication from all the way back to petroglyphs and cave drawings.... through newspapers as it was from my dad and his grandfather... through radio, TV and, of course, the internet,” Jane Rawlings said. “And now, I can’t wait to see how people are going to figure out AI. Because what is the truth anymore? What is fact? And, yet, we have to be able to figure that out.”

The PCCLD executive director Sherri Baca said that “we collectively have the vision of the public library as a community hub, not just books anymore” which “fits perfectly with the new design.”

Baca referred to the history of Pueblo’s public library system, which dates

Ribbon cutting ceremony marks the start of new era

back to the first McClelland Library in 1903. Former Colorado Governor Alva B. Adams dedicated the first free-standing library in Pueblo. Baca quoting Adams, said, “Cities like people have periods of infancy, youth and maturity. Pueblo has passed the pioneer stage... the building of this library marks the dawn of the new era of intellectual culture and education.”

Baca honored Robert Hoag Rawlings and other “visionaries” who first renovated the award-winning library in 2003.

“It is because of Mr. Rawlings’ generosity and the Pueblo County citizens’ investments in this museum-quality building that we have such a remarkable place to gather and learn and play.”

County commissioner chairman Garrison Ortiz also shared his remarks on the grand opening and how the library was a major part of his childhood.

“From the time I could walk, my mother would walk me to the Lamb Branch Library where I lived. To not only read books, but actually volunteer, and that was a second home after school to me.”

Between speakers, Director of Community Relations Nick Potter shared “fun facts” about the various programs that the Rawlings provides such as the seed library where patrons can “check out” seeds where “returned” seeds are what was harvested.

Colorado senator John Hickenlooper provided a video of his congratulations. Doreen Martinez spoke on behalf of PCCLD Board of Trustees representative Frederick Quintana. The event concluded with a lunch catered by PJ’s Coffee. All libraries had closed until 1 p.m. so staff could attend the ceremony.