Two weeks ago I wrote a column about Harry Z. Owen. It perpetuated a myth and greatly disturbed Dorothy Owen and others. I am writing a book about the mining camp up at Golconda so it is timely that the myth that George Jackson was Harry's father has been corrected. Harry was born in 1861 and lived for 78 years. Just when he became associated with Captain George Jackson is unknown. I apologize for the error and am glad it was pointed out as needing corrected when it was.
The Mancos Public Library was officially opened on Nov. 9, 1946. This represented a year of hard work during which the citizens of the town gave time, money and manual labor to make the venture a success. The federal government donated some books when the camp for conscientious objectors at Jackson Gulch closed in 1945.
Volunteers staffed the library until sometime during the sixties when funds became available to hire a librarian and a small staff.
In 1990, the Friends of the Library raised over $10,000 for the renovation of the building they were in. In 1991 the Library received a matching grant for another round of renovations to the old building. In 1995, an LSCA grant was received to install technology. In June of 2009, a state-of-the-art LEED Gold Certified building was completed. This was due in large part to Patsy Smith, Robin Strother and the countless hours put in by library staff and the board of directors.
Last year, there were 34,022 items checked out, 31 adult programs, 62 youth programs, and 41 young adult programs. The meeting room was used for 614 public meetings with a total of 2,434 attendees. The volunteer hours last year came to 3,000, and 1,500 during the first half of this year.
Our librarian, Lee Hallberg, grew up in Bieber, Calif., and went to college at the University of Reno. In 2005 he was hired by the Durango Library and in 2007 became the head of circulation for the Lavenia McCoy Library in Bayfield. He became the librarian for the Mancos Public Library in 2011. He is married to Hallie, who is a strong supporter of Lee. They have a son named Canaan, who will begin his second year of preschool this fall.
Julia Whelihan left the library after eight years as the circulation and facilities manager. Her son, Easton La Chapelle, is doing an internship with NASA this summer. Charlene Swanson has been with the library for 14 years and is the circulation and technology manager. Kate Kearns has been with the library for nine years and is the youth services manager. Kathy Graf has been with the library for 11 years and is the cataloger.
Midge Kirk was with the library for four years and was the adult services manager. Victoria Peterson served the library for 6 years and was the technology manager. She is now a part of Geeks on Grand. Bernadette Tuthill has been an assistant librarian for two years.
A recent addition to the staff is Shainie Hans, who is the development and programs manager. Jacqueline Doyle is a recent addition to the library board of directors. The other members of the board are Kathy Merrill, Danielle Desruisseaux, Brian Hanson, Chris Babbs and myself.
Over the years I have used the library for a variety of things but it has been most useful in providing assistance for my weekly columns in the Mancos Times. The library carries my mother's book, "Come Back to my Valley," my "Murder and Mayhem on the Mancos," which has been changed considerably and is now titled "Death at Golconda." It also has my valuable reference book about the three main cemeteries in the valley, titled "Serious and Grave Plots." The library also carries a number of good books about the Southwest and thousands of others too.