ODESSA, Texas — These past three months have been filled with lots of talk before action.
The Ector County Library committee has been researching and trying to decide what's best for West Texans.
That process continues today.
"We certainly want to approach all angles before we make a recommendation back to the commissioners and that's what we were tasked with doing," said Craig Stoker, ector county library committee member.
First, they toured the Ector county library, then Midland's and more recently
"Last meeting we really brought back to the table what it would look like to remodel, what it would look like to remediate the asbestos in the basement, what it would look like to fix the plumbing and kind of work on numbers of what it's going to cost if we really did all the projects that are needed in the present," Stoker said.
Today's discussion focused on what a brand new library could look like and what it would cost.
The committee chair says there would be two types of models to choose from if they pursue a new library.
One is the central model. The other is the neighborhood. It's as it sounds, central means one hub location, neighborhood means several locations.
The committee says in a new library they would want modern features to make sure it's useful well into the future
"There have been things that were exposed over the last year during the pandemic that came up as opportunities for the library. There's not nearly enough space for computers. There's not WiFi available in the building," Stoker said.
Regardless of the committee's decision come the end of August, they know they'll have the support of the community.
"You hear from all different walks of life that everybody knows we need to do something about the library, that the library is for everyone, that it's an opportunity for everybody to have a place to belong," Stoker said.