Grand County Library Director Carrie Valdes and her staff haven’t been resting on their laurels as 2007’s “Best Small Library in America.” This year, the Utah State Library has chosen the Grand County Public Library as the Utah State Library’s Outstanding Library for 2009.

“We didn’t slow down at all,” Valdes said of the staff’s ongoing efforts to expand services.

“It’s not just a well-stocked library,” Valdes said. “Obviously for circulation that’s important, but one of the other things we strive to be is a community center where people come in, and maybe they’re not checking out a book, but they’re in here on their wireless computer, they’ve got a comfortable place to be, or they’re using the public access computers in a comfortable environment.”

There’s no doubt that computer access has redefined and reinvigorated public libraries. The Internet has, in many ways, supplanted traditional forms of research, so many see computer access as a natural extension of library service. At the Grand County library, computer use has increased 260 percent from 2004 to 2008.

Much of that use is by area residents. The library offers computer availability for everyone from toddlers through adults, with specific areas for four different age groups. It also offers access for visitors through computers in the lobby. Those get heavy use, influencing the number of walk-in patrons, which totaled 149,227 people for 2008, Valdes said.

However, the library also boasts a 98 percent checkout rate, which means that about the same number of items left the library as people who walked in the door.

“If you figure Arches National Park sees a million visitors a year, I don’t know how many of them come down to check their email, but you’ve got to assume it’s a high percentage,” Valdes said. “[And] obviously people who have library cards are using them extensively.”

The library also tries to engage patrons through programs, especially for children, and the Utah State Library noted that attendance at those programs has increased 400 percent since 2002. Valdes said that the library’s head of adult services, Adrea Lund, is also working to expand adult programs.

The award comes with more than bragging rights – the library also received a $1,000 cash award. That money will go toward more staff training, to send a few staff members to an Association for Rural and Small Libraries conference.

Valdes credits the library’s employees with much of its success. “We have a fantastic staff, who are generous with their time, very knowledgeable, and love to be here,” she said.

The award also recognizes the library’s ongoing efforts to work with other community organizations, including the BEACON (Bringing Education and Community On-Board Now) afterschool program, the Arches Education Center, and the Early Intervention Coordinating Council. Library staff also work with a number of local festivals, helping round out offerings at art and literature events, and even the Youth Garden’s Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival.

Grand County’s library rose out of a strong mandate from voters, nearly three-quarters of whom supported a bond issue for the new facility. Valdes hopes the library can continue to both reflect and drive the values represented by that vote.

“It really is a community effort,” she said. “It’s all about the community—it’s theirs’.