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Show Mt. Pleasant library celebrates 80 years with open house Sat. by Karen Burton MT. PLEASANT An open house observing the 80th Birthday Celebration of the Mt. Pleasant Public Library will be held Saturday, Feb. 15, from noon to 4 p.m. The theme is "Reflections of the of the Future." Light refreshments will be served. As part of the celebration, internet demonstrations will take place during the day. Displays of new books, videos, and audio materials will be available for checkout. A historic display courtesy of the Mt. Pleasant Relic Hall and Fairview Museum will be displayed. Eighty years of library service may be observed by joining the Friends of the Library, purchasing a gift for the library, or contributing to a fund for the purchase of a microfilm for patron use. A Dorling Kindersley representative will be available during the open house with a selection of popular books for sale to the public. Past-Visio- read-erprint- er In a proclamation, signed by Mayor Chesley Christensen, it was stated, "Whereas, in an effort to promote literacy, recognize cultural diversity and expand knowledge and understanding..." the month of February has been proclaimed by Mt. Pleasants mayor and city council as Mt. Pleasant Public Library Month. Over 80 years ago, a few citizens gathered to apply for a Carnegie grant to fund the building of a community library. In 1917, the library was built with a $10,000 grant from millionaire Andrew Carnegie; hence, the building was named the Mount Pleasant Carnegie Library. It was one of 23 buildings built in Utah. Carnegie funded construction of over 1650 library buildings in the United States. The Prairie Style construction is a low pitch hip roof with a wide overhang, concrete band three quarters of the way up the walls, and the geometric decorative elements near the roof and porches. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Ware & Treganza and was built by Bent R. Hansen, August Larsen, and John Stansfield using local builders and contractors. Five years prior to building the library, a libraiy program was started in Mt. Pleasant. Around 1912, the Home Culture and the Twentieth Century Ladies Club organized a small library. The book collection consisted of about 50 privately donated books and a small traveling collection. Captain Thomas Brady of Troop E, Utah National Guard offered the use of the officers room in the old Armory Hall (which has been demolished.) It served as the home of the library until about 1915, when the library was combined with the public school library and relocated in a room in the Hambleton School building which also has been demolished. At this time, the book collection had increased to 1175 volumes, 775 from the school library and 400 from womens clubs. When the libraries were combined, a committee was appointed to apply for the Carnegie grant. There was substantial opposition to the project so a mass meeting was held with talks pro and con being given. A library tax proposal to provide the $1,000 annual building maintenance was maapproved by a three-to-ojority in a special election on March 14, 1916. Land for the new building was donated by the LDS Church on April 24, 1916. On May 22, 1916, the city formally accepted the gift of $10,-00- 0 from the Carnegie Foundation. The librarys formal opening and dedication was held at 2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 15, 1917, with Adolph Merz, president of North Sanpete Stake giving the dedicatory prayer. A short program was held in the old North Ward Chapel. Ellis Carter was the first librarian. Her salary was $30 per month. The library board was the Home Culture and the Twentieth Century Club. On Oct. 25, 1984, the Mount Pleasant Carnegie Library was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service and Ms. ne Carol Schull, Acting Keeper of the National Register. In February 1997, 80 years from the first formal opening and the Mt. Pleasant dedication, Public Library is open five days a week and serves the North Sanpete area, including Mt. Pleasant, Wales, Spring City, Fairview, Moroni, Fountain Green and the county residents. The library board consists of six local people, Leslie Amold-soSylvia Barlow, Monte Bona, Roland Dr. Edith Mower, Sparks, and Chairperson Jacquie Siewert-SchadThe library staff consists of librarian Bonnie Mel-lo- r, Clifford Cox, Jean Grames, and Karen Burton. There are 1568 patron and family cards listed on the computer. The book collection consists of 21,778 books plus an assortment of 46 monthly magazines. There are also two daily newspapers, two weekly newspapers and the Wall Street Journal. There are three computers available for patron use, two of which are for Internet use and the third is the card catalog. Mt. Pleasant City has a levy tax that goes towards the library maintenance. The local cities and Sanpete County have also funded monies to the library. n, Alison Hamilton, Brian Hooley, Morgan Soren- son, Trenton Anderson and John Anderson, who are students in Mr. Larsens fourth grade class at Fairview Elementary, look over exhibits from the presentation of "Museum on the Move" which visited the school last week. e. to receive back wages, additional months pay Ex-offic- MT. PLEASAN- T- A veteran police officer who was dismissed before Christmas will receive back wages through the current pay period and an additional month plus benefits, according to action taken by the city council following an executive session prior to the Feb. 4 city council Applications for circuit breakers are now available MANTI The applications for the 1997 Indigent Abatement and Property Tax Credits programs, otherwise known as the Circuit Breaker, are now available in the office of the Sanpete County Auditor. Individuals who applied for the program in 19 will be receiving an application in the mail. For further information, please contact the office of the Sanpete County Auditor at 835-214- er 2. To be eligible for this program, a person must be 65 or older, by December 31, 1997; or under age 65, disabled, widow or widower. Household income for 1996 must be less than $19,950. meeting. The council review of the termination decision was the final Officer proceeding following Chris Larsens dismissal in December. Officer Chris Larsens termination was based upon a recommendation by Police Chief Kay Larsen after the officer failed shooting accuracy tests with the departments standard issue weapon, a Sigsauer .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol. City liability was the determining factor in the veterans release. Officer Larsen challenged the dismissal action on the basis that he had been proficient in shooting his former weapon, a Smith and Wesson .357 caliber revolver. He was issued the new pistol during implementation of a prothe gram which standardized department's weapons. Reportedly all other officers were able to pass shooting accuracy tests with the new weapon. excuse to get rid of the officer and that the underlying reason for dismissal was a conflict with the police chief. Police Chief Kay Larsen was for comment unavailable on Monday. Chief Larsens recommendation to dismiss Officer Larsen was first reviewed by Mayor Chesley Christensen, who also serves as city coordinator. An appeals board, made up of a panel of the officers peers, upheld the termination ruling on Jan. 7. The appointed board is comprised of council members and city employees who serve one-yeterms. Voting was by secret ballot. Officer Larsen was given the opportunity to bring his attorney and to respond to individual concerns during this proceeding. ar 16-ye- ar Some rumors speculated that the weapons issue was merely an The hour council review Feb. 4 was Officer Larsen's final appeal of the termination decision. The council, presiding like an appellate court, heard both sides in the decision and reviewed the entire proceedings of the previous board ruling to make sure that Officer Larsens rights as an employee had not been violated and that the correct procedure had been followed to enact the termination. to a prepared According statement which was read by Mayor Chesley Christensen following the executive session, the council "unanimously upheld the Appeal Board's decision on termination. " The statement further stated, "We find nothing in the record were that shows procedures the utmost violated. Indeed, consideration has been given to Officer Larsen to be represented by legal counsel and to address all issues pertaining to his termination. "Further, we recognize that officer Larsen has contributed years of service to our community. Therefore, we grant that he be given back pay to the date he was placed on leave without pay to the date of the current pay period, Feb. 8. "In addition, we grant an additional months pay with benefits." Officer Larsen had originally been dismissed without severance pay, retraining compensation, or unemployment benefits because the citys employee policy didn't provide for any employee assistance upon termination. Mayor Chesley Christensen was also unavailable Monday to make statements regarding Officer Larsens dismissal. Officer Chris Larsen had worked for the city for over 20 years. Prior to being hired as a e officer, he police worked as an electrician and part time police officer. full-tim- |