By M. Scott Carter

Transcript Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY — While a new downtown library has been on the minds of Norman residents for several months now, it’s not the only new facility being planned by officials of the Pioneer Library System.

Another library — this one, a 20,000-square-foot facility — is being developed in far northwest Cleveland County.

That library, Pioneer Library System officials said, will be near the Moore Norman Career Tech center’s South Pennsylvania campus.

The library will be the 10th library in the Pioneer system, and is expected be completed well before a new Norman library is built.

It also won’t cost Cleveland County residents anything to build.

It works this way: Back in 2000, Oklahoma City voters passed a municipal bond issue. In that issue, $3.8 million was earmarked for a new south Oklahoma City library. A second bond issue, passed later, added another $2 million to the project.

Further, because a portion of south Oklahoma City lies in Cleveland County, the new library would be funded and built by Oklahoma City residents, but managed by the Pioneer Library System — not Oklahoma County’s Metropolitan Library System.

“We’re the ones who will furnish the books, computers and staff for the library,” said Teresa Dixson, Pioneer’s associate director for planning. “It will be located in south Oklahoma City and operated as a part of the Pioneer system.”

And the building process, Dixson said, has already started.

Though Dixson wasn’t sure when building funds will be available, Pioneer officials have met with Oklahoma City officials to select an architect and begin the construction planning process.

In addition, Dixson said land for the building was being purchased from the Moore Norman Technology Center.

“Right now they are in the process of buying 2.2 acres of land owned by Moore Norman,” she said. “The land is west of Pennsylvania Avenue and north of SW 134th Street.”

With the land purchase underway, Dixson said library officials are starting to gather public input about the facility. Those meetings will be coordinated by Lisa Wells, manager of Moore’s library.