THURSDAY, June 11, 2026 |
Photo – Main branch library in Rawlins – Bigfoot99 file photo
Medicine Bow Town Council expressed uncertainty about funding for the town’s library.
Statewide property tax cuts reduced Carbon County’s ability to fund outside agencies, including senior centers, museums, and libraries. Facing a 53 percent reduction in its county contribution, the Carbon County Library System cut hours at every branch, with lower performing locations, specifically the Encampment, Hanna, and Medicine Bow branches, at risk of closure without a significant cash infusion.
The Encampment library was saved through a fundraiser at Brush Creek Ranch. The Hanna and Medicine Bow branches were still scheduled to shut down last September. However, last minute grants and donations from PacifiCorp and the Wyoming Intertie Community Investment Program, which were matched by the Carbon County Library Foundation, saved the libraries. In total, the library system received $25,000 specifically to keep the Hanna and Medicine Bow branches open. In addition, the Medicine Bow United Methodist Church donated $3,000 exclusively to the town’s library.
Speaking at Monday evening’s Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Mayor Justin George said the library board calculated that the donation money could keep the town’s branch open at its current hours of operation until next summer.
At the end of May, the Carbon County Library System Board of Directors issued an open letter explaining that if the system only received the expected $140,000 from the county, the Rawlins branch would reduce its hours to 20 per week, branch libraries would close unless communities could support them financially, and staffing would be reduced.
With closures all but promised, Mayor George asked what happened to the donation money that was supposed to keep his town’s branch open until next August.
Councilwoman Kristi Wickizer said the library system only needs to staff the Medicine Bow branch for five hours a week. Meanwhile, the town donates a range of services to the library, including water, sewer, and garbage removal. Councilman Lee Cook noted that the town does not cover the librarian’s salary. Mayor George said the previously mentioned donations were intended to support those staffing and administrative costs.
Councilman Cook said that during the October 15th Carbon County Public Library Board budget workshop, Chairwoman Adelaide Myers stated that donations could be redistributed across the entire library system at the board’s discretion. Mayor George said the $25,000 donation was made specifically to support the Hanna and Medicine Bow branches and asked whether PacifiCorp and the Wyoming Intertie Community Investment Program knew the money had been directed into the whole system.
During that meeting, Chairwoman Myers explained that money not donated specifically to an individual branch, such as contributions made through the Carbon County Library Board’s website, goes into the library system as a whole rather than to any single branch. In a follow-up email to Bigfoot99 and Bandit102, Myers wrote that the grant and donation funds in question are specifically tied to Medicine Bow and Hanna, while the United Methodist Church money is designated solely for Medicine Bow.
Myers continued, writing that any money raised for a specific branch is used only for that branch’s employees, with a small portion set aside for the courier and the programming manager. All indirect administrative support such as the library director, IT, and collection development must be covered by County funding or the library system’s savings.
At Monday’s Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Mayor Justin George encouraged residents to bring any concerns they have about the local branch to the Carbon County Library Board’s attention.
