“We just wanna keep what we have,” Colorado Springs residents making one last effort to prevent local library from closing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Dozens from the community came forward at a city council meeting on Tuesday, to prevent a library from closing that Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) said they ended their lease for.

During a city council session yesterday dozens from the community came to support the library and gave reasons as to why it should stay open.

"One of the benefits for sure for us is our literacy rates. We know that literacy rates are a challenge and that we are struggling to raise those up. I wonder if we've considered what kind of message we send to our kids if we're closing libraries and closing down centers of literacy," said Ken Pfeil, the principal of Trailblazer Elementary.

A website, saverockrimmonlibrary.com, has been started to raise funds in order to cover rent for the library for the next year. According to the website, 30,000 dollars has already been raised and the target is 300,000 dollars.

"What do we want? We want to keep our library. We're not asking for anything more. We're not asking for anything less, we just wanna keep what we have," said Joe Pelka, a Supporter of keeping the library open.

11 News spoke with the owner of the building, Ismet "Matt" Sahin who said he bought the library nearly 20 years ago. He said, as an immigrant from Turkey libraries gave him the opportunity to learn English and he wanted the Rockrimmon library to remain open.

"It is satisfying to me to keep them operating as a library. It's important to me, and I hope we will keep it open," said Matt Sahin.

Sahin offered a lease where the library would not be charged more rent and would be given a flat rate over the next five years, saving them 30,000 per year according to him. He is now trying to find new tenants.

In a statement from PPLD sent out last month, they said

"While the property owner has recently offered to lower the rent and take care of any future costs due to flooding or sinkholes, this effort does not begin to erase any of the financial issues the Library District is facing."

PPLD in a statement from last Friday said in part,

"The decision not to renew the Rockrimmon Library lease was not made lightly... Our District provides access to nearly 700,000 people across El Paso County. We must make decisions that sustain the entire District. The Facilities Master Plan was brought to us to ensure a strategic plan was in place for the longevity of the District."

A Pikes Peak Library Board Meeting will be held next week on Wednesday and many from the community will be showing up to give their support and make one more effort to keep Rockrimmon Library open.