Independence Day comes around every July 4, but the Whitefish Community Library celebrates its own independence on July 1.

That’s the day two years ago when the Whitefish Branch Library officially severed ties with the Flathead County Library System and went its own way. And in just two years the Whitefish Library has doubled the number of users, increased its collection of books and materials and started an endowment fund jump-started with a $100,000 bequest.

“It’s been a long haul and quite a learning curve,” Whitefish Library Director Joey Kositzky said. “The bottom line is that everyone strives to serve their community, and this is what the community wanted.”

Although the Whitefish Library is an independent city tax-supported library, it provides all the same services it did when it was part of the county system, Kositzky said. Patrons with county-issued library cards can still check out books at the Whitefish Library and drop them off at any county branch.

Whitefish is part of the Montana Library2Go program for downloadable audio materials and is a member of the Montana Share Catalog Partners consortium of 30 libraries across Montana. 

It’s also tapped into the inter-library loan system that lets patrons get materials from out-of-state libraries.

The crucial difference since breaking away from the county system is that the Whitefish Library has its own board of directors, and that allows decisions to be made at a local level, Kositzky pointed out.

It was a messy divorce when the Whitefish City Council decided in November 2010 to create an independent library following more than a year of strife between Whitefish library supporters and the county library board and managers. There was a tug-of-war over ownership of the Whitefish books and the court finally intervened to direct the two government bodies to equitably divvy up the collection.

After the transition Whitefish bought its own things and now has “all new computers and scanners,” Kositzky said. The library now has 18 computers for its more than 4,000 patrons.

The collection also has grown to 35,000 books and 8,000 downloadable audio materials. That’s about 2,000 more items than it had before the split, she said. The collection numbers don’t include magazines, whereas county statistics included magazines.

“Many of our magazines were donated subscriptions, and we’re waiting to see the consistency of that” before adding those numbers to the overall collection statistics, Kositzky said.

Whitefish library supporters donated large numbers of books and materials to get the library up and running.

“We accept all materials,” she said. “If we can add them to our collection, we do. Otherwise we have 20 other places we repurpose them, plus our in-house book sale.”

Whitefish pays for its independent library by collecting revenue from the mill levy the county collects for the valleywide library system.

The proposed budget for the coming year is $211,000 in total expenses, compared to $199,000 last year, Whitefish Finance Director Rich Knapp said. Although the library operates autonomously, the city approves its annual budget.

“They’re still getting a lot of gifts and donations,” Knapp said.

Last year the library received a gift of $198,000 from the late Harriet Glanville, a summer resident who died in January 2012. An endowment account was set up with the Whitefish Community Foundation with $100,000 of that bequest.

“We don’t struggle with funding,” Kositzky said. “We’re doing well. Of course all libraries wish they had more money and staffing.”

Whitefish Library operates with one full-time employee — Kositzky — and three part-time employees.

“We rely heavily on volunteers,” she said.

Friends of the Whitefish Library is a nonprofit arm that hands programming, the book sale and coordination of volunteer services. The Whitefish Library Association coordinates any needed fundraising.

The library has stepped up its programming with popular staples such as Read with Rover, a weekly session when children can read to a therapy dog.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.