The Results are in at South County!
From January through March 2025, we had the pleasure of engaging the southern Jefferson County community and gathering your input and ideas for the future South County Library! From student tours and open houses to coffee shops and even a brewery, you showed up to lend your support and help us understand the community's needs and desires. In fact, more than 2,400 of you participated in our engagement efforts, sharing your unique visions for the new library!
Along with surveys and interviews, we invited community members to compete in our One-Sentence Story Contest, where we prompted participants to “Write a one-sentence story that takes place at the JCPL South County Library in the year 2075.” Your creativity did not disappoint! From laughter to thrills (and even some chills), you showed imagination that knows no bounds. With the help of our Teen Advisory Board members, we selected five top submissions as our contest winners. Check out their stories below.
"I enter the beautiful all glass library, newly remodeled with heating and cooling embedded in the glass walls, and see my favorite display of brain wave books then choose one on Mars real estate opportunities and one on Martian language, which my electrode cap at home will hook into and transfer the knowledge into my brain as I relax." —Melinda, First Place
"A little girl named Lila watches in awe as her favorite book comes to life right in front of her eyes, filling the room with shimmering light, 3D holographic adventures and the laughter of friends beside her and across the world, joining in through the library’s immersive storytelling network." —Nikki, 2nd place
"In 50 years, I’ll be hunched over my walker, shuffling down the stacks, crooked, wrinkled fingers trailing along the trusty spines of our collective stories laid down on paper, as it has been done for centuries, feeling smug about my place in it all." —Jessie, Third Place
"The ghost of Liam insists that the old library isn’t haunted." —Trevor, Fourth Place
"As I step through the solid wood doors with two other little, tiny hands in mine, I’m passing on to my children a half a century journey of stories, travels, truth seeking and adventure that can only begin in a library." —Katelyn, Fifth Place
With the help of our partners EUA, opens a new window and Clermont Eliot, opens a new window, we compiled all your insights into a comprehensive Community Engagement Report, opens a new window. This report was presented to our Board of Trustees on May 15 and will help guide the design and programming of the new library as we move forward. We appreciate everyone who took the time to share their voice, and we're excited to bring the community's vision to life!