Billings Public Library by Billings Gazette

Congratulations! on the completion of the new Billings Public Library! It is a wonderful addition to the Billings community! Sincerely, The Crew at Jackson Contractor Group, Inc. and all those involved in its construction.

Before you rush off to read a good book, learn something new, or simply explore the surprises of Billings’ Public Library, we at Jackson Contractor Group, Inc. (JCG) would like to introduce ourselves and be the first to say, welcome. JCG is a Montana-based general contractor firm who always keep quality, safety, and our client’s needs in mind. Constantly growing in size and geographical reach, JCG projects can be found in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota. The construction professionals at JCG are wellversed in numerous project delivery systems such as Construction Management, Design Assist, Design Build, and Lump Sum, and are leaders in LEED construction and sustainably built facilities. So no matter what challenges, special conditions, or unusual requests your construction project may demand, JCG has the experience and resources to make it happen. After all – it isn’t our first rodeo.

www.JacksonContractorGroup.com

Billings Public Library

congratulations Billings... on the opening of the new

Billings Public Library thanks to all who helped to make this dream a reality...

Will Bruder FAIA

www.willbruderarchitects.com a child’s view of the story cone looking up to Montana’s ‘BIG’ sky above

Imagine... Inform... Inspire!

Billings Public Library Foundation Our City, Our Future… Legacy By Cara Schaer, Immediate Past President The Billings Public Library Foundation was established in 1988 under the tutelage of Royal Johnson. Royal and other farsighted citizens understood that a great library would not be possible through public funding alone. They understood the important role the Foundation could play in raising funds through private donations and endowments would provide funds to enhance and enrich the services of the Library. And so began the fundraising efforts of the Foundation. Regardless of the economic climates that might have prevailed, the Foundation has kept a steady course on developing and maintaining an effective and successful program of Donor Development and Stewardship. “To raise vital funds that will provide a margin of excellence to the Library” is the mission and cornerstone of the Library Foundation.

Fast forward to 2010. History once again repeats itself. The question to remodel versus build a new library is posed again and after much community discussion, this time the answer was “build a new library.” Firmly committed to the building project and firmly committed to fulfilling its mission of raising vital funds, the Foundation was honored to serve as the leader in the Capital Campaign and make the commitment to raise $5 million. With the leadership of Co-Chairs Mary Underriner and Stella Fong, the Foundation Board, along with the support of the Capital Campaign Cabinet members were successful in raising the dollars needed. Many Foundation Board members, past and present, provided leadership and support to the Billings Library Initiative Campaign that worked independently toward passage of the bond issue for construction of the new building. Fast forward again to February 1, 2014. The dedication of the new Billings Public Library

will take place on this historic day. In looking forward to the dedication and opening of the new Library, it’s important to look back when the Foundation first set sail and acknowledge all the dedicated individuals who served on the Foundation Board those following years. Each of these board volunteers, along with an ever-growing base of financial supporters of the Foundation, provided important stepping stones and building blocks that helped make the vision of a new library building a reality. What’s ahead—a library of the 21st Century! More services, more programs, more technology, more education and enrichment opportunities for everyone. In order to meet these new opportunities and challenges, Leslie Modrow, Development Director, and Kathy Cross, Foundation Board President, will continue to remain vigilant to fulfill the mission of the Foundation and serve as Stewards and Ambassadors of the Library.

Courtesy of Billings Public Library Pictured are Kathy Cross (front) and Leslie Modrow (back).

Billings PuBlic liBrary

By Kevin Kooistra, Community Historian, funds to construct a west wing as a memorial of her late brother, Frederick, Jr. The addition Western Heritage Center housed book stacks and the city’s first museThe city of Billings shares the heritage of nu- um. Four women directed the library through merous western towns that developed along the first sixty years; Mabel Collins (1901-1916), newly laid railroad tracks. Named for Frederick Elizabeth Abbott / Mrs. Henry Garber (1916Billings Sr., former president of the Northern 1936), Margaret Fulmer (1936-1944), and Ann Pacific Railway, the railroad’s arrival spurred Whitmack (1944-1965). Pressure mounted by the 1940s to expand lithe settlement of Eastern Montana. The “Magic City” quickly grew, “like mushrooms after a brary services, address the lack of parking, and rain,” into a bustling commercial center. Shortly to reconsider the location along the downtown after Billings’ establishment in 1882, planning railroad tracks. The museum collection of bird began for a public library. By 1895, the City and animal mounts was donated to Eastern Council passed an ordinance for the establish- Montana College. The first bookmobiles were ment of a free public library, which ultimately purchased and a temporary branch library was resulted in a substantial donation from the Bill- established. The Friends of the Billings Library ings’ family and creation of the Parmly Billings organized to provide fundraising support for the library in 1959. Shirley Hake, who took over Memorial Library on Montana Avenue. Frederick Billings Jr., as a tribute to his brother as director in 1965, immediately worked to Parmly, a resident of Billings in the 1880s, gift- move the library. A struggle ensued over constructing a new ed money to build an attractive Romanesquestyled library constructed with local sandstone. facility or converting an existing building. Dedicated in 1901, the library marked “… a new Mayor Willard Fraser and Billings Architectural era in the intellectual life of the city.” As the city Association members argued for a new downcontinued to grow, an east wing was added for town library, even suggesting the land at Cobb a children’s room and reference department. In Field, and moving the ballpark to the West High 1923, Elizabeth Billings, Parmly’s sister, donated / Stewart Park area. The library board and direc-

tor stood firm for remodeling an existing building and purchased the Billings Hardware Company store and warehouse property on North Broadway. The remodel, they argued, was the practical solution. Voters passed a bond issue and the new Billings Public Library opened in 1969. The first two floors were remodeled, bookmobile garages were added, and the air conditioned interior with carpeted floors and modern furniture was labeled a “Librarian’s dream.” When the Billings Public Library became a joint city-county library in 1976, it was renamed the Parmly Billings Library. Various efforts over the years to remodel and update the facility were met with mixed results. Everything changed in 2011 after the Library Foundation raised $5 million in private funding, including an anonymous 2 million dollar cash donation for the architectural and engineering design work, and Billings’ voters overwhelmingly approved a $16 million bond to build a new library. Bill Cochran, library director since 1990, and the Library staff, have been working diligently with the architects and contractors to make the new library, the Billings Public Library, a place the community will enjoy for decades.

IMAGINE... INFORM... INSPIRE!

Courtesy of Billings Public Library

The Architect’s Vision for the New Billings Public Library

Courtesy of Will Bruder

The architectural vision for the new Billings Public Library is that of a sustainable, dynamically transparent pavilion of community pride and iconic presence. As a team, we conceived of the library as a volume of lightness, transparency and color that grows from the fabric of its urban landscape. It was designed from the ‘inside out and the outside in’ and as a response to community input and user need. It is a modern building that celebrates the place it inhabits and the people it serves with pragmatic functionality and poetically original use of form, materials and color. With its design concepts rooted in the traditions and history of Billings, the architecture recalls the honest power of a modest Montana pole barn and the sculptural crispness of the grand metal grain sheds that define the man-made landscape of every farm, ranch and town under the ‘big sky’s’ vast horizon. The library is an architectural hybrid. It references the city’s handsomely restored 19th century main train depot and historic downtown storefronts as well

as classical American modernism’s attention to invention, scale and proportion as seen in the works of Mies, Saarinen and Kahn. Internally features of this simple yet complex glazed pavilion include a large lecture room with wall paneling of rustic re-purposed weathered wood snow fencing that opens on to a south facing masonry walled garden courtyard. A sky lit two-story lobby is defined by a floating amber resin donor’s wall. A ‘welcome’ service desk, a generous casual seating area, self-check services, and a café create a sense of ‘village’. The ‘rim rock’ memorial reflecting pool is embraced by the grand stairway near the glass doored public elevators. East of the main entry, beyond a wall of watery blue transparent glass (visible to or from Broadway), is a ‘living room’ for popular collections of current fiction and nonfictions best sellers, audio books, CD’s and DVD’s as well as comfortable seating and gathering space for author readings and book signings. Announced by playful signage, the entry to the children’s area is sheltered by soft curving walls of wood and enlivened by interactive rim rock kiosks of the ‘first five years’ zone. A long arching ‘bookshelf’ couch invites parents and kids to sit and enjoy the extensive collections. Groupings of computer workstations for children of all ages end in a craftwork space that views into a garden court. At the core of the children’s area is a forty-foot tall ‘reaching to the big sky’, conical story telling tower of day lit wood surfaces, playful cushions and changing LED colored lights… a magi-

THANK YOU BILINGS PUBLIC LIBRARY

cal place not just to hear, but experience, a story! More architectural forms and vistas are discovered upon arrival to the upper level ‘great room’. From the dappled light of the space’s grand pillowed skylight oculus, to the room’s dynamic raking ceiling, the user is drawn through the room’s collections of periodicals, and non-fiction/fiction books. Moving past the array of individual study tables, a generous task lit 34-seat community study/research table and groupings of comfortable and diverse seating, the visitor is offered 270-degree views of the City and landscape beyond. Small and large meeting rooms, a wood paneled Montana Collection and Research Center, and a Genealogy Room compliment the western edge of the space. A periodical reading retreat looks northeast to the Rim Rocks, while the playfully sculptural teen study/‘hangout’ space in the southeast corner of the room overlooks the action of Billings’ downtown street life. Completing the patron services of this 21st century library are numerous computer workstations, a computer training room, a digital studio for the creation of animation, video and audio materials. Architecturally the new library will offer the citizens of Billings a point of pride, and a comfortable and exciting place to grow and engage with the community. It provides a contemporary touchstone from which everyone can discover both the past and future as they navigate their way through the challenges and opportunities of the world around them.

Congratulations

For choosing us to be a part of your project. 1402 Central Ave • Billings, Montana 59101 Billings PuBlic liBrary

By Richard Jensen, partner and project manager for will bruder+PARTNERS

• The energy model predicts the building will cost approximately $41,838 less to operate per year and use 40% less energy than the National energy standard. • Daylight harvesting, automated lighting controls, dimmable LED and fluorescent fixtures minimize energy demands of lighting while also reducing cooling loads much of the year. • 30 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) mounted on the roof contributes 5% to the annual energy savings. • Shading strategies of fixed perforated metal panels harvest natural light and allow for views while minimizing heat gain and glare.

The new Billings Public Library is a model of integrated design, where architecture, finishes, furnishings, site and landscape, and all building systems, including structure, mechanical, electrical, lighting, data, and building envelope are designed as a cohesive and systemic whole. When a building is considered as a functioning system, nothing can be considered in isolation and every aspect of the design, large and small, must be mutually benefitting. As sustainable design was an expressed goal of the City, Library, and Community from the outset of planning the new Library, it too defined important criteria through which the project developed through this integrated design approach. Differing sets of conditions and circumstances shape differ• The open plan and efficient column spacing allows for future ent biases and solutions toward sustainable design. Through reconfiguration of the Library at minimal economic and enmany meetings, workshops, and conversations with the City and vironmental impact. Community Stakeholder Groups, the set of sustainable strategies specifically tailored for the new Library emerged as an honest reflection of the nature of the project in its specific climate, economy, and set of community values. • Use of Low-emitting (low VOC) materials (adhesives and While the success of the Library’s sustainable attributes is sealants, paints and coatings), FloorScore certified hard surmeasured on the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental face flooring, CRI Green Label plus carpeting, and composite Design) system of the United States Green Building Council (USwood with no added urea formaldehyde. GBC), where it is registered and awaiting certification level pend• Ground and sealed concrete in lobby eliminates VOCs of caring completion of site development, many of the building’s most pet and other floorings, increases building life, and reduces sustainable features cannot be found on a LEED checklist. This environmental impact of carpet replacement over the life of is because the project team shaped the sustainable approach the building. based on ‘best value’ to the project, over the life of the proj• Outside air ventilation that exceeds local and national stanect. Designing to increase the life of the project, for example, dard. in turn, increases the value of the project (as well as minimizing • High levels of air filtration to reduce dust, particulates and the strain on our resources and environment). pollens. Of the many sustainable design strategies used at the new Billings Public Library (some on and some off the LEED checklist), While the success of the Library’s sustainable attributes is following is a list of a few important attributes: measured on the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), where it is registered and awaiting certification level pending completion of site development, many of the building’s most sustainable features cannot be found on a LEED checklist. This • Fuel-efficient vehicle / carpool parking is provided for 5% of is because the project team shaped the sustainable approach the total parking on site. based on ‘best value’ to the project, over the life of the proj•S howers, bike racks, and secured storage (for staff) inside the ect. Designing to increase the life of the project, for example, in Library. turn, increases the value of the project (as well as minimizing the strain on our resources and environment). • Water-efficient landscaping yields 73% reduction of exterior water use and water-efficient plumbing fixtures yield 40% reduction of interior water use.

Sustainable Design Saves Energy Costs Over Time

Courtesy of Richard Jensen

Congratulations

Billings Public Library 868 Parkway k y Ln, L , Billings Billi s (406) ( 06) 656-5955 656 hillmasonryinc.com

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From all the staff at Billings Public Library, thank you, donors, for your private contributions, and thank you, Billings, for passing the bond issue that made the new library building possible! For us, the best part of the Library has always been the people who come to it, true during our years in the former Billings Hardware warehouse we’re moving from, and true in the new era of service we’ll be providing in the new building for decades to come.

Courtesy of Elizabeth Fellerer

We’re excited to be able to welcome you to your new spacious, light, safe, technologically sophisticated building and hope you come soon to re-discover the Library. There is something for everyone at the Library! The Community Room, adjoining garden, and butler’s pantry provide a venue for programs, readings, conferences, and meetings far superior to anything the vacant third floor in our former building could offer. Conveniently located in the center of first floor is the Sweet Café, offering coffee, snacks, and home-made fudge. The expanded Children’s Services area includes a special First Five Years space, a craft area that connects to a fenced outdoor Children’s Garden, and a jaw-dropping Story Tower, featuring plenty of seating comfortable for parents

and kids alike, under magical lighting and a skylight. The Great Reading Room that comprises most of the second floor offers stunning views of the Rims and the skyline of downtown Billings. New features include a Digital Learning Lab and a separate Teen area with two glass-walled study rooms. You’ll see that the building incorporates the geography, geology and history of Billings and the region, in its materials, shapes, and views. You’ll experience a significantly enhanced digital environment, with vastly increased highspeed broadband access, 50 wi-fi access points, and 83 public computing stations. This spring, a hundred-space parking garden will bloom to the south of the new building, graced with trees and landscaping to provide shade. Everyone is welcome in your new Library building, as long as they respect the property you have invested in and respect others’ rights to use the building without disruption. We hope you’ll use the library respectfully and help us ensure that others do, by letting us know if you see problems, so we can address them promptly.

Thanks again and we hope to see you soon,

Library Director Bill Cochran and the Billings Public Library Staff

Congratulations to Billings!

As Mayor of Billings, it is a distinguished honor to share in the excitement of our “new library”. The art of learning sets the framework in a person’s life. It is instrumental in achieving future accomplishments and success. A library provides this opportunity and more. Billings was founded by energetic, optimistic and hard working citizens. The successful construction of the Billings Public Library was achieved by people demonstrating exactly the same principles. The repeated efforts by driven persons and the needs of our community have been recognized by an investment in our future with the “new library”. The “new library” is a state of the art facility, designed to serve those of all ages and of all needs Courtesy of Zimmerman’s Portrait Designs

Billings Public Library

with tomorrow’s technology. It identifies Billings and the people who reside in the area as successful and forward thinking. The Billings Public Library is a product of the strength of “many” helping to build knowledge creating a better Billings, a better Montana, and a better America, and will serve present and future generations for years to come. We are blessed for the opportunity to participate in the community effort for our “new” Billings Public Library. Congratulation to Billings, Mayor Thomas and Robin Hanel

This is Your Library…

e ,

Courtesy of Billings Public Library

On behalf of the Billings Public Library Board of Trustees, let us add our congratulations to the community of Billings for making this extraordinary structure possible. Your support as donors, raising $5 million, and as voters for the $16.3 million bond issue two years ago, confirms that great communities do have great libraries. It was, after all, our turn. Our forefathers built the first one over a hundred years ago, and as stewards of our time, it was up to us to build our legacy. And WOW! We have done it! The Library Board of Trustees appreciate that the quest for a new library began almost 50 years ago. Thus, we are but another link in the chain that brings us to this momentous occasion. It has been a busy three years for the Board, working together with Library staff, the Library Foundation, Friends of the Library, the City Council, and the whole community, on the many stages of planning for the new building. We were acutely aware of the many challenges facing the employees caused by an inadequate, obsolete building. To now witness

the gratitude and excitement expressed by the staff in their new surroundings makes us appreciate both their efforts and this building that much more. And we look forward to watching the community use the building in the years ahead and to learning how people would like it to evolve. Libraries are integral to our American Ideal – the freedom, for all, to learn – the great cultural leveler. They are the portal to the future. In the six years that I have served on the board, I have witnessed heroic efforts to provide our patrons with access to the latest technology, despite a shortage of plug-ins! Imagine the impact our new library, a gathering place for creative thinking and expression, will have, as it welcomes both new and loyal friends. Consider the image of our city – progressive, optimistic – confident. The face of Billings has never been more captivating. Until such time that learning becomes obsolete, there will be a need for libraries.

to the Billings community for your support.

Shari Nault, grateful Chair of the Billings Public Library Board of Trustees

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S On The New Billings Public Library

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A Message from Montana State Librarian

Your living room – it’s the place where you visit with family and friends, get caught up on the news, discuss important issues of the day, make plans for a new adventure or a brighter future, play games, and – of course – relax with a good book. Living rooms are important places in our lives; some of our most significant connections with our most cherished family and friends are made in our living rooms. Your community also has a living room: the Billings Public Library. Perhaps you haven’t visited your library in a while and you may remember it as a passive repository of books or as an outpost of culture, quiet and decorum in a noisy world. That is not the library of today. They are more than just books and banks of computers; libraries are where individuals gather to explore, interact, and imagine. People come to libraries to know themselves and their communities. And, libraries serve as catalysts for address-

ing social problems and as important resources for businesses, students, jobseekers, and families. All of this and more happens in the Billings Public Library every day, truly making the Billings Public Library the community’s living room. Of course the library still has books – in fact, over 255,000 titles are available in print and electronically. Every day nearly 1,000 people visit the Billings Public Library; last year, those visitors checked out over 825,000 items. But there’s more. Thanks to the knowledgeable and professional staff of the Billings Public Library, parents learn how to give their children the best possible beginnings through early reading readiness; teenagers find a safe and engaging place to hang out with friends; patrons research their family history and explore the history of Montana; civic organizations attend meetings where they discuss how to continue to improve the quality of life in Billings; and, of course

people enjoy the latest best sellers. And now, in the new Digital Learning Lab that the Billings Public Library will offer – and with the fastest Internet speeds available from any library in the state – anyone of any age will have the opportunity to learn how to use the latest technological resources. These tech resources, combined with everything else the Billings Public Library offers, will lead to new experiences and new opportunities that, at this point, we can only imagine. The Billings community has much to celebrate when its new library opens. During the grand opening on February 1, the Billings Public Library will reveal a dramatic new community living room, one that is, as it should be, a direct reflection of the community; where people are drawn together to explore the world around them and where, I know, members of your community will make connections that will drive Billings into the future.

Congratulations Billings

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Courtesy of Montana State Library Montana State Librarian Jennie Stapp is a graduate of Rocky Mountain College.

Our New Library is a New Downtown Anchor

Casey Page of The Gazette Staff

Get to the point.

We have so much to celebrate this New Year in Billings, and among our many accomplishments is our new library for the City of Billings, the Billings Public Library. Our community, in coming together to support and fund the new library, made a very bold statement about the value and the vital role that the library plays in our community. It’s a place that nourishes the mind and provides access to services. It connects us to our heritage and to each other, and to the virtual knowledge that lies beyond our geography! In this investment, we have placed priority on life-long learning for generations to come. I remember as a child when my mother would take me and my three siblings to the Norfolk Public Library in Norfolk, Virginia. My mother introduced the concept to us that going to the library was a special event, and was a privilege. We would all pile in the back of the Ford Fairlane and fuss over the window seats, and bony elbows, and who was hogging all the room. But the minute we stepped out of that car and into the library, with its cool marble floors and air conditioning that tickled your cheeks, we were instantly hushed by its grandeur. We would all go to our favorite areas – and discover our own little worlds. At that age, we weren’t allowed to cross the street by ourselves, but at the library, we had permission to visit new lands and meet new people. Our new Billings Public Library, with its thoughtful and purpose-driven design, is a treasure for those of us who call Billings home, but also to all those who visit our great city. Offering significant economic impact to our city, it is a state-of-the-art amenity and anchor in our revitalized downtown. It is indeed a time to celebrate! Congratulations to the leadership of the Billings Public Library and to the City of Billings!

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Lisa K. Harmon Executive Director Downtown Billings Alliance

Congratulations

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Digital Media Learning Lab

By Kristy Bouck, Steering Committee The Library Foundation is very proud and Chair; Leslie Modrow, Library Foundation excited to be partnering with School District Development Director; and Kathy Robins, 2, MSU-Billings, Rocky Mountain College, Library Systems Administration Community Seven and Integra. These dedicated volunteers will be providing the leadThe Library Foundation was recently se- ership for this digital media facility. We are lected for a prestigious grant for a teen also excited about the hiring of two Vista Digital Media Lab. This lab, one of only 24 members who will be working directly with in the country, will offer an exciting op- the youth and out in the community to proportunity for youth in our community. The mote the project. funding for this grant comes from the MaThe objective of this lab is to help concArthur Foundation and the Institute of Mu- nect the dots between what teens learn at seum and Library Services. school, at home, and from their peers. This

connected learning, a concept that has been proven as a successful model for student success, is a process that engages individual interests as well as social support to help youth overcome adversity. Our school system can’t shoulder this entire burden and the Library is pleased for the opportunity to partner with them on this important project. STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math and will be the focus of the Learning Lab. Through mentor-supported programming, youth will be offered a safe, comfortable space to

The Friends of the Billings Public Library is a nonprofit group of volunteers associated with the Billings Public Library. Our mission is to promote and enhance Library usage through volunteerism and financial assistance. The Friends volunteer assistance includes working at Library events and on special projects, pulling reserved books, wrapping hard cover books, sorting and categorizing books donated for sales, organizing the sales, and delivering withdrawn Library books to the Yellowstone Detention Center and Montana Women’s Prison, the YWCA and Passages. Most recently, volunteers have started training as docents to help the public navigate the Library. The Friends financial assistance to the

21, 2014. The Friends also contribute funds to the Foundation for landscaping at the Library, and the Food for Thought program. The Friends book sale space is located near the coffee shop on the main floor of the Library. Dates are being set for the donation of books, the Spring Book Sale, and for other Friends’ events. You can keep current on The Friends’ happenings by following us on Facebook at Friends of Billings Public Library, checking the Library newsletter, or visiting our web page at www.friendsofbillingslibrary.org. New members and volunteers are always welcome! Please join, or renew your membership, by sending yearly dues ($10/individual; $25/family) to the Friends, in care of the Library.

Library comes from the monies received at our book sales, on-line sales of collectable books, membership dues, and donations. Through these revenues, the Friends are able to underwrite musical and reading programs within the Library. These include the purchase of book club kits and One Book Billings reader copies and the sponsorship of the Fiction Award for the High Plains Book Awards, which recognizes regional authors and literary works. It also allows the Friends to support the Books for Babies project and the Reading Rocks program in the community. In conjunction with the Billings Library Foundation, we are sponsoring the presentation to be given by British author Neil Gaiman at the Babcock Theatre on February

S 3 A B B B develop lifelong skills. Sample projects will B be video and music production, computer B programming and other teen selected venB tures. C Two upcoming projects will be a collaboC ration with PBS News Hour Student ReportD ing Lab and video and editing work for the D Not in Our Town twentieth anniversary. For E more information about these two projects E or the Learning Lab, please contact Leslie F Modrow, Library Foundation Director, 406G 237-6149 or Kathy Robins, Billings Public G Library Systems Manager at 406-247-8531. H I J J K K L L M M

Bob Zellar of The Gazette Staff Mona Harris sorts books for the annual Friends of the Library book sale.

Find Your Roots in the New Genealogy Room The Genealogy Room provides a valuable resource to Billings as interest in genealogy, or family history, grows every year. This research collection, owned by the Yellowstone Genealogy Forum, is open to the public during library hours of operation. Resources in the Genealogy Room include over 1,300 books. These cover topics such as family histories, passenger & immigration lists, how-to-books, military, states and foreign countries, Mayflower descendants, Daughters of the American Revolution, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Yellowstone and Carbon County cemetery records, and Yellowstone County Marriages (1881-1899).

J G

The public is welcome to use these books on site as they cannot be checked out. A new website for the Yellowstone Genealogy Forum will contain the card catalogue for the Genealogy Room. This will allow patrons to plan their research time at the library. The computer has several databases: Smith Funeral Home records dating from 1882, Billings Gazette obituary index beginning in 2005, and links to Ancestry and Family Search. Additional local information will be added. Research staff provides assistance on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 1 to 3 p.m. An evening slot may be added soon. If staff is not available, access to the

Billings Public Library

room may be obtained at the Second Floor Help Desk. If a request for research services is mailed to the Library, the Forum provides research services for a nominal fee plus copy charges. The Forum teaches classes periodically at the Billings Public Library. Past topics encompassed free genealogy websites, Introduction to Genealogy, census records, and homestead records. The Forum trained specific groups, such as Boy Scouts, in genealogy research. On April 29, the Forum will present “Tracing Your Civil War Ancestors”. For more information, contact P. J. Smith, Forum president at buffalo@itstriangle.com.

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Mountain Area Systems M.R. Concrete NorPac Sheet Metal Paulson’s Blasting Service Pierce Flooring SG Services, LLC Sowles Co. Summit Electric, Inc. River Ridge Landscaping The Right Touch Installation Company Vector Foiltec, LLC Wharton Asphalt Inspection Agency Dowl HKM Suppliers 21st Century Materials Bridger Steel Dovetail Designs & Millwork, Inc. Kenco Security Metal Polishing by Timothy, Inc. MKM Construction Northwest Pipe Fittings, Inc. Rollfab Metal Products, LLC Ronstan International Inc. Sign Solutions Skyline Stainless Teton Steel Tri-Jack Design Products WMK & Co. Inc

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Architects O2 Architects Will Bruder+Partners Consultants A&E Architects Design Balance LLC

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Thank you sponsors for supporting a month of special events! For more information, visit www.billings.lib.mt.us

Board

Patrick and Carla Cobb A&E Architects Big Sky Economic Development Association Billings Gazette Communications Billings Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitors Bureau

Carrie & Scott Chestnut, in memory of Claris Kelly Welch

Bernard Rose Carpet One Clock Tower Inn Frank and Kathy Cross Downtown Billings Association Hilltop Public Solutions

Little Horn Bank Montana-Dakota Utilities Newbury Family Northern Hotel Northwest Energy Rocky Mountain Bank

Mike and Cara Schaer Stella’s Kitchen & Bakery Sweet Café The Soup Place Travel Café Bruce Whittenberg

Special thanks to our caterers: Thomas Nelson Caterers Abby’s Catering Company – Tom & Abby Hinthorne Harper & Madison Fortin Culinary Center

Q Catering – Jodee Crable, Manager; Daniel Roberts, Executive Chef Sodexo-MSUB – Jason Aupied, Area General Manager; “Martie” Jaramillo, Executive Chef Chefs and Cooks of Montana and Passages

Billings Public Library