Welcome to 'Troy's living room'

Ricky Richards waited patiently in the cold Thursday morning for the Troy Library to open.

Troy Branch Librarian Sharee Miller unlocked the door promptly at 11 a.m., Jan. 30 and Richards lingered at the librarian’s new portable desk before heading to a computer. He said he appreciates the look and feel of the renovated library.

“I like it a lot better than how it was” he said. “There’s a lot more open space. More seating too.”

Miller said the changes have elicited feedback from residents who enjoy the library’s hospitable ambiance, with amenities that include new, charcoal-gray armchairs.

“I’ve had some people refer to it as Troy’s living room,” she said.

The behemoth librarian’s desk is gone. Miller said the absence of the hulking fixture opened up the room. New furniture, purchased from Managhan’s Furniture in Libby and other vendors, can be stacked or folded, offering flexibility for event programming.

A grant of $20,000 from the Steele-Reese Foundation paid for the bulk of the renovation work, Miller said. County workers helped, providing labor as an in-kind contribution. Work began in mid-November and wrapped up in late December, she said.

The library sports new carpet composed of carpet tiles and has replacement tiles on hand when needed.

County Commissioner Jerry Bennett stopped by Thursday.

He described the Troy Library as essential to the community.

“You can drive by here at night and there are people out on the bench using the Wi-Fi,” Bennett said.

The Steele-Reese Foundation, which has offices in both Missoula and Lexington, Kentucky, is a charitable trust. It describes itself as being “committed to supporting rural communities and the tax-exempt entities that serve them in Idaho, Montana, in the Native nations that share the geography, and in Appalachian Kentucky.”

Foundation grant recipients with regional ties have included the Yaak Valley Forest Council and Vital Ground. The latter is working with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to try to protect a wildlife corridor west of Troy from development.

The Troy Library, one of three branch libraries in Lincoln County, is open Tuesday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.