The plan to lease the vacant Asa Wood property to Lincoln County Public Libraries has taken its first major step toward becoming reality.

At Libby School District’s board meeting Monday night, a commitment agreement between the district and library to explore leasing the property was approved by the board.

Rick Ball, Lincoln County librarian, said that while he is glad things were moving forward, the process is still in its infancy.

“It’s a little too early yet, but it’s almost there,” he said. “It’s just the first draft of the commitment agreement.”

Essentially, what the commitment agreement does is give the library first pick of Asa Wood. Ball has plans to turn the empty building, formerly a Libby elementary school, into the new hub of the county’s libraries and a community center.

The agreement is an 18-month deal for Ball to look into contractor bids, but it is not a firm contract. The 18 months are just an exploratory period.

“There is some fine-tuning to do,” said Libby Superintendent K.W. Maki. “We don’t want to get overly legal, but we want to make sure we do it right.”

During the commitment agreement period, the school district would continue paying maintenance costs. After Ball has received bids, raised money and is ready to occupy the building, a long-term lease will be floated and signed.

But there is a long way to go before that happens.

In early negotiations Thursday morning, Maki and Ball discussed changing the 18-month period to two years. This was to accommodate any construction, moving it from the beginning of winter to May. Libby School Board will have to approve the revised commitment agreement at the April meeting.

The agreement would theoretically solve two problems at once. It would take the burden of an unused property off the hands of the beleaguered school district and release the pressure valve on a packed library building.

It also would have space for businesses to lease. Ball, who said he has no job-creating ability, wants to put Libby’s best face forward to attract new business.

“I always say I can paint my house,” Ball said, claiming that good looking buildings and upkeep draw interest. “It lets future community members know we have pride.”

The Inez R. Herrig building in Libby is the central location for the county’s libraries, and it processes all donations for the Troy and Eureka locations. This leaves a lot of books in a little space.

Library employees work amid stacks of books in the small building. This is problematic not only for the books, but the computer space and children’s library are limited in size.

“We don’t even have the room to store stuff anymore,” Ball said. “We can do better. We have to do better.”

The location of Asa Wood, on Highway 2 and Idaho Avenue, is a prime spot, Maki said.

“I think it would be a great idea,” Maki said of the plan. “It is centrally located, has good access from the roads and there is beautiful potential for the outside as well.”

Ball knows there are skeptics. He has expected that from the beginning. He feels that a large, gorgeous public building with a gym, coffee shop and fields outside could be just the shot in the arm Libby is craving.

Still, he wants to assuage fears of getting too big for his britches, so to speak.

“I don’t want to turn it into a Whitefish,” Ball said. “It’s Libby. It will stay Libby, but we can’t plan for the future if we let our infrastructure crumble.”