It is no accident that more than 80 percent of the residents that Laramie County Library System (LCLS) serves have library cards. Cutting-edge technology, a newly constructed building, highly effective publicity, dedicated staff, exemplary service to the city of Cheyenne and the county, all of these reasons and more make Laramie County Library System of Cheyenne, Wyo., Library Journal and Gale Cengage’s 2008 Library of the Year. Each year Library Journal and Gale Cengage select a library whose high standards, innovative services, and commitment to their community make them extraordinary.

LCLS’s success is due in part to a recent and carefully planned vision that grew out of its relationship with patrons. After years of operating in a cramped and “dingy” environment, the library received 55 percent of the resident’s votes for a proposition that added a one penny per dollar sales tax to the state’s five percent for the sole purpose of building a new main library. The new library’s design embraces the capital city’s urban and civic character, as well as the wide open spaces of surrounding landscape. It also achieved a Gold certification as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), making it a shining example for local developers and citizens.

The main building, the system’s two rural branches, new bookmobile, partnerships with the community college and University of Wyoming, the 2003 launched Literary Connection, a two-day event featuring five acclaimed authors, and strong partnerships with agencies and organizations such as the YMCA, Cheyenne Boys and Girls Club, and Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, exemplify only a portion of LCLS’s outreach efforts.

In addition, LCLS offers targeted programs tailored for homeschooling families and age groups ranging from infants to seniors. More than 200 homeschool families get regular mailings and specific programs to meet their needs; small group computer classes are offered to older adults; and the 40 adolescents that make up the LCLS Youth Advisory Board meet monthly to discuss and plan teen services and collections.

For more information and to read the feature article that appears in the June 15 issue of Library Journal Magazine, visit www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6568073.html.