CHEYENNE - In November 2003, Natrona County voters rejected a 1 percent sales tax to build a courthouse addition, new courtrooms and a parking complex in Casper.

In Laramie County that same month and year, voters approved a sixth-penny tax for an array of projects including a new library.

One major difference between the elections was that all of Laramie County's four municipalities - Albin, Burns, Pine Bluffs and Cheyenne - passed resolutions endorsing the ballot projects. In Natrona County, only four of the six municipalities supported the courthouse project.

That difference may have been critical.

Supporters of the Laramie County library project said the cooperation among the local governments was key to their success.

It also took �lots of talks and lots of meetings,� said Denise Kelsey, chairwoman of the Laramie County Library board.

Natrona County never has adopted the sixth-penny tax.

Library officials in that county hope that will change in November, when voters will decide on the special-purpose sales tax to build a new library in Casper.

The Laramie County special-purpose tax adopted in 2003 also paid for a new bookmobile at Burns and an addition to the Pine Bluffs library. Officials say these projects for eastern Laramie County undoubtedly helped get the ballot tax through for the county library system, including the new Cheyenne library.

"They were small portions of that, but they did impact the vote to some extent, I think.,� Laramie County Commissioner Jack Knudson said, referring to the eastern county library projects.

Having a political action committee to promote and advertise the project also was of great benefit, he added.

Laramie County's sixth-cent tax recently expired.

The new Laramie County Library in Cheyenne opened last September to widespread acclaim. Six months later, it made a top 10 list of the best libraries in the nation.

The $26.9 million, three-story, 103,000-square-foot building doesn't have a swimming pool or a wall-sized aquarium as Cheyenne school children wanted. But it does have more than 100 computers, and printers; a 50-station computer center; five new meeting rooms with audio-visual services; and eight study rooms.

Getting it done

For supporters, reaching this point was a decade-long struggle.

The idea for a new library began to take shape in the early 1990s when officials concluded the county�would soon outgrow the old one-story library building on Central Avenue.

A phase one master plan was developed. But phase two never came about for lack of money.

In 2000, the library removed itself from the ballot, said Troy Rumpf, public information officer for the library.

In 2002, the city and county had higher priorities for the sixth-cent special-purpose tax.

Finally, in 2003 "when they thought we had our ducks in a row," the county commissioners went for the sixth-cent tax in a special election, Rumpf said.

A political action committee promoted the project, and the county cooperation was �great,� Rump said.

Commissioner Knudson said one big issue with the library was �where to put it.�

More than 50 sites were considered. A special committee considered the different sites and held multiple public meetings.

"As you might imagine, that was somewhat of a controversial thing,� Knudson said.

Finally a consultant narrowed the list and provided information about the potentially good sites. The downtown location close to the Capitol Building complex was selected.

"What I envisioned that library to be was a family destination point, and it has truly turned out to be that," Knudson said.

Kelsey said the library board held many meetings for members of the public to educate them about the project.

The board also had a�facilities committee that included known library users who told what they wanted in a new library.

One thing they wanted was plenty of meeting rooms.

The library officials and board also met with children to find out what they wanted in a new library.

"They wanted things like a swimming pool, and they also wanted a wall-sized aquarium. That didn't happen,� Kelsey said.

"The sky was the limit with those little guys,� she added.

Contact Joan Barron at joan.barron@trib.com or by phone at 307-632-1244.