If you have been a local for any amount of time here in Truckee, there is a chance that you have visited the local library. Tucked behind the police station and beside the hospital, off Donner Pass Road, the building has long served as a quiet cornerstone for the community.
But one thing is hard to miss: it’s tiny.
Built in 1976 to serve a population of just 2,000, the library has remained largely unchanged even as Truckee’s population had grown to nearly nine times that size. The building can only hold 54 people at a time, far fewer than the 15,000 residents who now hold library cards. The lack of capacity and a growing need in the town has fueled a movement nearly two decades in the making, one to build a new Truckee library.
“About 17 years ago, a Nevada County Grand Jury report noted that the Truckee Library was too small to serve the area,” said April Cole, executive director of the Friends of the Truckee Library (FOTL). “Since then, grassroots efforts have grown to support a new library.”
Cole joined FOTL in 2021 with a mission to amplify community voices and shape a library built around local needs.
“I believe that as the nonprofit partner in this project, it’s our responsibility to be the community’s voice—ensuring the library doesn’t just meet the checklist for a modern library but actually serves the people of Truckee,” she said. “Over the past few years, we’ve engaged thousands of community members through focus groups, listening sessions, advisory committees, and surveys to identify gaps and build a library our town needs.”
That vision began taking shape in 2018, when the Town of Truckee, Nevada County, and FOTL selected a site and hired architects to begin the design process. Now in 2025, that vision will be tested in the ballot box.
This November, voters in Nevada and Placer Counties will decide on Measure G, a bond initiative that would provide critical funding for the new Truckee Regional Library. If passed, Measure G would raise between $16.5 million to $19 million, about 43 percent of the project’s estimated $38 million total cost, with the rest coming from private donations and grants.
The measure proposes a property tax of three cents per building square foot, and the rate would never increase over its span of 30 years.
To pass, Measure G needs a two-thirds majority; 67% of voters will need to say yes, which is a steep threshold even with wide voter support. “It’s hard to say what will happen on Election Day,” said Laurel Burlingame, Measure G campaign organizer. “So we are continuing to encourage everyone to turn in their ballot and vote yes on G.”
While the exact design for the new library is still being refined, the plans go far beyond rows of books. The new Truckee Regional Library is envisioned as a hub for learning and connection, featuring expanded youth and educational programs, modern gathering spaces, enhanced services for adults and seniors, and even the capacity to serve as an accessible emergency resource center.
“It is important for communities to have third spaces, free places to go and gather,” said Burlingame. “Libraries are just that, they are free, safe places for any member of the community to go. Libraries provide free access to knowledge, something that is invaluable.”
For many in Truckee, Measure G isn’t just about a new building, it’s about civic participation and the shared act of shaping what kind of town Truckee wants to be.
As FOTL Board member and Truckee High School teacher Craig Rowe put it, “My role with measure G in the classroom is to try as much as possible to develop a culture of civic engagement. It’s not at all my role to promote or advocate Measure G. It’s promoting advocacy, for engagement to not be a bystander in this thing that we’re calling democracy.”
That spirit of engagement has defined the campaign. Burlingame says consistent face-to-face outreach has been key, “Showing up consistently and having face to face interactions with community members has been showing incredible results.”
For nearly 50 years, Truckee’s small library has served as a shelter of stories, study, and stillness. Now, Measure G asks residents to imagine what that legacy could look like in a space large enough for the town’s future.
