THE NEW LIBRARY AT 374 NORTH MAIN*
“On the 2nd day of September 1992 an earthquake measuring 5.9 rocked a good portion of Southern Utah causing major damage to some homes near Zion National Park and buildings in the St. George area. The building in Kanab the quake affected most was the library. Old cracks were reopened, enlarged and new cracks sprung up every where. A huge bulge appeared in the west wall of the basement, a smaller bulge appeared in the furnace room wall and to make matters worse the foundation sprouted cracks. After building inspectors took note of the damage it was reported that the building had suffered structural damage beyond repair.
Kanab City and the Library Board had to face the fact that a new library had to be built. Because the City had so recently bonded for a new fire station and felt confident the citizens would not vote for a tax increase, the Library Board asked a committee of supportive residents to form a Friends of the Library group and start finding ways to raise money for a new library.
In October 1993, Risk Management told the City to close down the library completely by the 1st of November. That would mean there would be no library services until a new building could be constructed and that might take a few years. At first the City decided to dispense with having a library at all until a large group of very concerned citizens prevailed upon the City Council to find a temporary location. In the spirit of the pioneer settlers, a family who owned a vacant building offered to remodel part of the building at their own expense and let the library move in as temporary residents, rent free, until a new facility was built. February 1994 found the Kanab City Library in the old Baco building east of the cemetery.
Three years later and with $125,000 earned in blood, sweat and bake sales, the City applied for a Community Development Block Grant. The grant effort was successful thanks to a remarkable presentation by Roger Holland and Rosalie Coleman. Ground breaking was scheduled for July 1997.
With a few minor adjustment Kanab City Library officially opened its doors to the public with an open house March 1999. It was the combined efforts of the community, Library Board, Friends of the Library and the support of friends and family all over the country. Several organizations and agencies sponsored fundraising events. Our sister city from Japan helped with a sizable donation. When a movie was filmed in the area, the company donated funds toward the library building. * Adding it all together it was a bit of a miracle. The power behind the effort was the librarian, Marolynn Watson. She reminded us of another woman in another century (Rose Hicks Hamblin) who felt libraries were important to a community and refused to give up until she reached that goal. And so Kanab City Library entered a new era.
*taken from personal accounts and newspaper clippings:
Marolynn Watson
Southern Utah News
