Library makes a big difference

To the editor:

It has been four months since the community of Sutton celebrated the opening of our new library/community resource center. This new space has changed the face of our community and has given us a beautiful new space to gather.

If you visit, you may find us in one of our quiet moments, but it is more likely you will find a busy (yes, sometimes that means noisy) space with folks using the Internet, children and adults reading, playing and visiting, and activities occurring in one of our meeting rooms.

When I arrive at work each day, I think of all the people who helped make this new building a reality. Many elected officials stuck with this project for 10 long years as we gathered support, momentum and money. Gone are the days when libraries were built solely with state capital funds.

Today, it takes a range of funders and we owe gratitude to many: state of Alaska, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Rasmuson Foundation, Mat-Su Health Foundation, BP Alaska, Usibelli Coal Mine, ConocoPhillips and Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union all provided financial support for Sutton’s new library. Thank you for believing that libraries are a good economic investment for a community. The people in the communities along the Glenn Highway (Sutton, Chickaloon, Glacier View) and the Friends of the Sutton Library continue to support us with donations of time, talent and money.

Finally, I want to thank Andy and Anna at Architect’s Alaska and Greg and Drew from Collins Construction. Andy and Anna somehow took all the comments from years of public meetings and designed a lovely building. Greg and Drew made that design come to life and work like it is supposed to.

If you are ever in our community, please stop by. A visit to this new space will convince you that one building can make a difference in a community!

Nancy Bertels

Librarian