North Las Vegas opens third library

By Jeff Pope

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | 6:04 p.m.

After more than 10 years of planning, the North Las Vegas Library District opened its long-awaited Alexander Library to the public this morning.

The library is the third for the district and fills a gap in the middle of the city, Library Director Kathy Pennell said.

“We have the North Las Vegas Library along our southern border and the Aliante Library in the north. This one is in the center part of the city and provides more convenient services to a lot of residents,” Pennell said at a ribbon cutting ceremony that was followed by a VIP opening yesterday.

The $12 million project at 1755 W. Alexander Road includes a 16,400-square-foot library with meeting rooms, children’s library, public access computers, 46,000 media items and an adjacent two-acre park. The park includes tot lots, shade structures and demonstration gardens.

The site was given in 1994 by the family of Ernie Becker, a home builder who started developing the west side of the valley in the 1950s.

Mayor Michael Montandon said the library could also be called the “Blue Spruce Library” after the slow-growing tree.

Building the library was one of the campaign issues Montandon ran on in 1997. Unlike other library districts in the Las Vegas Valley that have their own tax bases and boards of directors, the North Las Vegas district is a city department.

“In 1999, we put signs up that said, ‘Library coming soon,’” he said.

At the time, a citizens committee put together a wish list for the library. It was probably three times as big as what ended up being built and was too grand for the city to afford then, Montandon said.

“This time we did it right. We found the funding first, then designed it,” he said.

Mike Henley, parks and recreation director, said the park also fills a need in an underserved area. Several groups had already reserved the park for events weeks in advance of its opening.

“When we started the design, I looked at it (the park) as a beautiful frame around a masterpiece,” he said.

The demonstration garden hosts 30 species of drought-adapted plants with information to give residents ideas they can use in their own gardens, Henley said.

The Alexander Library follows the design of the Aliante branch with one design change.

More than 100 city residents left their mark on the library by leaving their hand prints in plaster on a pillar in the children’s section.

Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or [email protected].