The Little Library That Could - History of the Guffey Library

The Little Library That Could

Guffey is a tiny Colorado mountain town that cares enough to support a library. Deer wander through. A golden eagle flies overhead. The town mayor, a cat, suns himself in the middle of the road knowing that nobody would run over the mayor. Peaceful, yes. But sleepy? Not exactly.

Guffey grew up as the kind of town where ranchers sent their children to school. It was hardly a booming mining town, but the people and the school made the best of what they had. By 1985, they wanted more. Jean Cloyd, a woman with one master’s degree and working toward a second, was tutoring a few children in her home. When she ran out of textbooks, she went to the school to see what else there was for the children to read. There was practically nothing! Guffey needed a library. And Jean Cloyd did something about it.

When a modular building was offered to the Guffey Community, she had her chance. There were no phones in the area yet, so she drove from house to house and collected 61 signatures on petitions for a library. By an unwritten agreement between the county library board and the local school district, the modular building was moved and attached to the back of the school building. County library funds would pay for adult books, videos, most of the children’s books, and a salary (at minimum wage) for a library assistant. The school district would pay for utilities, janitorial service, use of restrooms and telephone. Jean Cloyd finished her second master’s degree and served as librarian for ten years.

By 1996, the school’s enrollment had grown, along with Guffey’s population. A bond issue was passed for an addition to the school. However, plans placed the new addition at the back of the school—where the library stood. Had people intended to give up the library when they voted for the bond issue? Once again, petitions went out to the people. Just a sampling of their comments:

…integral part of school and community!
…vital to have a community library for both school and public.
Make it bigger!
We need our library!
We love our library!
By all means, we want it!
This library is a salvation, pleasure, delight. Needs to stay!
We can’t do without a library, critical service.
This library is Essential to our community.

So Guffey worked again for a library. It required much work and cooperation. In the midst of the effort, one fax about the library building read, “We’re trying to do the impossible, or so it seems…”

The impossible happened in March of 1998. By agreement of the county commissioners and the county library board of trustees, the trustees raised grant money and contributions for a new 1064 square foot, single story library building in Guffey. It would be dedicated entirely to library services, owned and maintained by the county.

Now people drove the mountain roads from miles away to use the library and its computer. Guffey School children walked to the library for regular visits. Summer reading programs kept children of all ages reading and coming for weekly programs. (Adults who came to work or study on those days were invariably good- natured about hearing stories and sharing our one table with treats or crafts!)

When an amazing bequest of $19,000 came to the library in January of 2008, Friends of the Library agreed with our librarian that we could not just blow it “hither and thither!” A gift of that size needed to count. The library buzzed with ideas. What we needed was more room. We could add a whole room to one end of our small building. It could be half again as big!

Of course, even that royal sum and lots of volunteer help wouldn’t be enough to build our addition. But amid our silent auctions and sales of used books, T-shirts, and cookies, amazing things kept happening. One couple donated their adjoining land. We received a Park County (Colorado) Conservation Trust Fund grant to help with the construction expenses. Local contractors did their best for us, sometimes giving us special discounts. Volunteers put in hours of work. Friends from near and far donated to the project. We received a grant from the Libri Foundation for new children’s books. And we received a second Conservation Trust Fund Grant to buy furniture, computers, and shelving for our new room. The Grand Opening for our new addition was on August 7, 2010.

We’ve always loved our library. Now there is extra joy walking into that sunny room with new carpet and fresh paint, knowing we did it together. We have more books, more computers, and more room for work and meetings and children’s programs. All it took was a start, a great idea—and lots of work. We still love our library!

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