Library leaders will have to reconsider their strategy in serving fast-growing Bargersville after the town council decided not to help fund a kiosk that would have expanded services to the town of more than 8,000 residents.
The Johnson County Public Library planned to cover the cost of the nearly $200,000 kiosk. Library leaders asked the town to pay for a $69,627 kiosk shelter with a concrete floor and enclosure, and to pay the kiosk’s monthly electric bill, which would range from about $50 to $100 during extreme weather, Trafalgar Branch Manager Todd Jones said during a Bargersville Town Council meeting in August.
The Johnson County Public Library serves most of the county, except Edinburgh and parts of Greenwood which have their own library systems. Bargersville is one area of the county that isn’t particularly close to a library.
Current county library branches include the Clark Pleasant branch in Whiteland, the Franklin branch and the White River Township branch in the Center Grove area. The county’s Trafalgar branch is the closest to Bargersville, but it’s still a more than 10-minute drive.
While a new Bargersville branch is not on the horizon, library leaders have been working with the town to improve services there. The library incorporated a story time walk last year, said Sarah Taylor, assistant director.
The library also brought its story time program to Bargersville’s Town Hall late last year, adding to its Stout Stories discussions for adults at Taxman Brewery and Mallory Run Winery.
But library officials hoped a kiosk, which would have been an automated dispenser of books, movies and other library items, would be a bridge to a service gap. For now, library leaders will put their heads together and come up with a Plan B, said Lisa Lintner, executive director.
“Right now, the kiosk isn’t moving forward but our team will regroup and evaluate all the different options when looking to provide services,” Lintner said. “We started doing story times before the pandemic and it was really well received, (so it could be) expanding more in-person programs, but we may come up with new ideas now. We’re going back to the drawing board.”
Meanwhile, Bargersville plans to focus its efforts on parks and recreation next year, including the 19-acre Kephart Park planned at County Road 144 and Saddle Club Road in Bargersville, the first phase of which the town budgeted $418,000 for, according to town budget documents.
This first phase will include two entrances to the park, both from County Road 144, a temporary gravel parking lot and its first walking trail, an asphalt trail around the perimeter of the park which will connect to an existing trail in the Lennar at Morningside subdivision, said Julie Young, town manager.
Once completed, the park will also include nature trails, a playground, a community center and an amphitheater, according to the town’s master plan.
