Voice
Lone Tree 3.28.13
Lone Tree
March 28, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlonetreenews.com
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 11
Voucher dispute moving forward Colorado Supreme Court will decide whether to take up contentious issue By Jane reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
Miwa Inatsugu plays with her son, Taiga, in the children’s section of the Lone Tree library. The family recently relocated to Highlands Ranch from Japan. Inatsugu uses the library’s story time for a dual purpose — to entertain her son and to listen to the English language. Photos by Rhonda Moore
Nothing musty or dusty at libraries Douglas branches have distinct personalities By rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com An early morning visit to the Lone Tree Library is a cross between stepping into a childhood play land, a workplace and a multi-cultural complex. The Lone Tree branch opened in 1986 as the Oakes Mill Library, circulating about 2,400 items in its first year. Today, the branch that sits minutes from the Park Meadows shopping center welcomes about 45,000 visitors per month, with a 2012 circulation of 830,000 items. Its visitors include residents who have relocated to Colorado from across the globe, reflecting the diversity of the Lone Tree patrons. “Our library is one of the more diverse in the district,” said Aspen Walker, Douglas County Library District branch manager at the Castle Pines and Lone Tree branches. “We’re seeing an amazing amount of use.” Visitors to the Lone Tree branch on a recent March morning included transplants from Austria, Honduras and Japan. Many were at the branch for childhood story time. Some joined the activities to help perfect their language skills, including Miwa Inatsugu from Japan. “I come just to hear people speak,” Inatsugu said. Inatsugu visits the library a few times a week, her 17-month-old baby in tow. She was surprised to learn that among the library’s services is a free English tutoring program. It is among dozens of programs offered free of charge at the district. Programs include history research, tech tutoring, busi-
TrusTee proTocol May change Douglas County’s libraries have been bracing for a change amid a move by county commissioners to take control of the appointment process for library trustees. Commissioner Jill Repella said the change is to create a link between the district and a board of elected officials. The resolution to change the appointment process was expected at the March 26 commissioners’ meeting. Visit us online at www.ourcoloradonews.com for an update from that decision.
A plaintiff in the Douglas County School District voucher case says the state appeals court erred in several area Feb. 28 in upholding the voucher program. The process to take the case to the Colorado Supreme Court is under way. An attorney on the other side, representing families who had originally received vouchers, says the program’s design keeps private schools and government separate, ensuring its constitutionality. The two sides likely will get a chance to argue those points again, though the case doesn’t automatically move to the higher court. It first must be approved for review by a certiorari, an order from a higher court that directs the lower court to send the case to it. The Colorado Supreme Court receives more than 900 certiorari petitions annually stemming from Court of Appeals decisions, and agrees on average to hear one of every 14 petitioned cases. Director of Taxpayers for Public Education Anne Kleinkopf, among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against DCSD and the Colorado Department of Education, has no doubt this petition will be granted. “The issues are of such great public importance and they are such novel legal issues,” she said. Voucher continues on Page 12
Siblings Peyton, left, and Logan Gilbert, who live in Conifer, play a game of chess at the Highlands Ranch library. The family meets at the library a few times a week. The branch is within walking distance of their Douglas County school. ness start-up support, free legal aid, author visits and job-seeking help. To expand its programming, the library finds community partners such as the Arapahoe/Douglas Works! workforce center, which provides job skills training and employment matches through the state labor department. On March 21, more than 30 people attended a free class at the Philip S. Miller branch in Castle Rock to perfect interviewing skills. The class has grown from its former size of about 10 students per session, said branch manager Leslie Good. Good oversees the Castle Rock branch, notable for its more traditional library ambiance. Situated in what was formerly a grocery store, the Philip S. Miller branch experiences high use of its community meeting rooms, which are available throughout the district for nonprofits, businesses and individuals. The library’s hushed atmosphere caters to patrons who make use of the free Internet access on a bank of public computers, study tables equipped with electrical outlets and private study rooms that are routinely reserved. Despite the diverse atmosphere among branches, librarians from different branches consider themselves part of a large family.
about the library district The Douglas County Library District has seven branches: Castle Pines, Philip S. Miller in Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Louviers, Parker and Roxborough. • Annual circulation: 8,055,060. • Annual program attendance: 230,908. • Annual story time attendance: 108,378. • Annual foot traffic: 2,052,749. • Number of resident library patrons: 207,353, or 71 percent of the county’s population. • Non-resident cardholders: 20,022. • National circulation per capita average: 7 percent 8 percent • Douglas County Libraries circulation per capita average: 28 percent. • Annual website visits: 2,154,466 Source: Douglas County Library District
“We’re like brothers and sisters,” said Patti Handby, branch program liaison at Philip S. Miller. “We all love each other and we all come from the same family, but we are different according to the demographics that we serve.” The differences are distinguished by the library’s changing role in the community, Walker said. As residents continue to change the way they absorb information, the library is changing with them, she said. Library continues on Page 12
schwab plan gains approval First phase to include parking garage, pair of five-story buildings By Jane reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com Charles Schwab got the signal it needed from the Lone Tree City Council to move ahead with construction of its 32-acre corporate campus. The council approved Schwab’s site-improvement plan during its March 19 meeting. “From the council’s perspective, they are done,” said Kelly First, the city’s planning manager. The first phase of construction on the property at Lincoln Avenue and Park Meadows Boulevard includes a pair of five-story office buildings, a parking garage, an events garden/amphitheater and a retail branch building. Another five-story office building and Schwab continues on Page 25
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