Crowded library needs more area

     By Lynn Collier
     View staff writer
      The Green Valley Library is running out of room.
      The 12-year-old, 22,000-square-foot facility was built to house 100,000 volumes of reading material, but currently holds 140,000. The library loans out between 38,000 to 40,000 books a month.
      "We're maxed out of space," said Sally Feldman, the library's administrator.
      She and her staff of 25 have dealt with the problem by shuffling books around in different rooms.
      The art gallery is being converted into a periodical room to give patrons more space to read newspapers and magazines. The new room will open early next year.
      The library's art exhibition will be displayed in the hallway leading into the Sunrise meeting room, which is booked until "kingdom come," Feldman said.
      Though the library, at 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway, is pressed for space, Feldman said her neighborhood is mature and has already gone through its residential boom.
      "My crystal ball has always been a little bit cloudy," she said. "But this area surrounding us is pretty much built out."
      There are no plans on the drawing board for expansion or renovations to the library, said Karen Bramwell, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
      Bramwell said renovations for Spring Valley Library, 4280 S. Jones Blvd., and West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd., were approved by the district's board of trustees, but have been put on hold for review by the new executive director, Daniel Walters. Walters took over the position Nov. 7.
      The growing area is also served by Henderson's library district, which operates three branches. The James Gibson branch is at 280 S. Water St. The Pitman branch is at 1608 Moser Drive and the Lydia Malcolm Branch is at 80 N. Pecos Road.
      When Feldman arrived in Henderson from Cleveland 15 years ago the nearest library was Henderson's main library downtown.
      "I've never lived so far from a library," she said.
      Back then she and four staffers opened the Green Valley Library in a small store on Green Valley Parkway while the building was completed.
      "When they put 20 lockers in the employee lounge I thought they were wildly over doing it," she said.