Planning underway for Bozeman west side library

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Plans for a second Bozeman Public Library branch are moving forward as supporters work to raise money for a west-side location.The Bozeman Library Friends and Foundation bought land on Competition Drive in the Urban + Farm development for the project. The group plans to raise about $25 million and then turn that money over to the city for construction.This location is also ideal because it's close to Meadowlark Elementary and Gallatin High School, and sits on a Streamline bus route.Much of Bozeman's residential and commercial growth is happening on the west side. Supporters said the new branch would help meet demand in that part of the city. Census data shows growing numbers of families on the west side of 19th Avenue.More than half of the library's circulation comes from the children's section. The foundation said it wanted to make sure new families on the west side had access to those services.Janay Johnson of the Bozeman Library Friends and Foundation said distance can shape how often people use a library."The further people live from a library, the less likely they are to use it frequently. And you know, library use is is important for early literacy, getting kids ready for school. It's important in the summer. So they don't experience that learning loss. And it's important for them to have something, you know, safe and healthy and enriching to do after school," she said.Johnson said the branch will likely be around half the size of the downtown library location.The foundation has already started gathering feedback about what patrons wanted in the new branch. It plans to continue that outreach by tabling at the Downtown Bozeman Christmas Stroll.A formal capital campaign will launch sometime in spring 2027. Operating costs will require a separate ballot measure.A finished library likely would not open until about 2031.