MEAD — The woman took one of the Sharpies and wrote a short message on the long board:
“Congratulations! Mayor Colleen Whitlow Feb. 13, 2026”
Beam signing is a traditional ceremony marking the placement of the final beam at the highest point in a building’s structure. The public event, with cookies and prize drawings, signaled another phase in the construction of the $14 million library in this southwest Weld County community.
The library, on a 3-acre parcel donated by the town, is on the east side of Liberty Ranch Park in a newer residential neighborhood. The park has a tennis court, basketball court, ball field, playground and a pavilion with picnic tables and grills.
“We looked for sites in the downtown area but, other than one possibility, there really wasn’t anything suitable,” said Matt Hortt, executive director of the High Plains Library District. “The town worked with us on this site. The park was a positive. And they’re going to build a fire station on the other side of that fence.
“All of this will be good for the community.”
The station, on the south side of the library, will be part of the Mountain View Fire Protection District.
The library is two miles south of downtown at 13815 Chaparral Road. It will join the High Plains network of 17 libraries stretching from Ault to Grover to Fort Lupton to Erie. Three of the libraries and the district’s headquarters are in Greeley.
Bridget Parker, who will be the children's librarian for the new Mead Library, writes a message on the signing beam on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. The library stands in the background. (Ed Otte/For the Greeley Tribune)Mead is growing southward. Site work is close to completion for a 300-home subdivision near the library. Mead High School, which graduated its first senior class in 2012, is south of the library.
Fransen Pittman built the Grover Library in 2024 and is the contractor for the Mead Library.
Discussions about the need for a library began in 2018, according to the Mead mayor. The closest public library is in Longmont.
“Everybody worked together for this,” Whitlow said. “The library district, the fire district, the county, utility companies. We plan to add a new police station to the fire station in a couple of years. Our officers work out of a modular unit now. It’s just too small.
“The library will be a safe place for kids to go to after school. It’s going to be an extraordinary place to get together. It will be a benefit for the community.”
Funds for the library construction were allocated from the High Plains Library District’s capital projects budget, according to James Melena, the district’s community relations and marketing manager.
A grand opening and open house will be scheduled in late September or early October, he said.
Fransen Pittman superintendent Jerry Sandoval led visitors through the skeleton structure of the 13,500-square-foot building. He pointed to the planned locations of the reception area, work stations with computers, printers and Wi-Fi, children’s activities room, fireplace, restrooms, staff offices, community meeting room with a kitchenette, storage rooms and garage.
He stopped in front of large window openings and explained where a patio, landscaping, sidewalks and a parking lot will be located.
“We’ll have this all buttoned up, finish our work, by June,” he said as a crew continued framing the walls. “Then, the library people will come in and do their work. It should open in the fall.”
Fransen Pittman superintendent Jerry Sandoval led tours through the Mead Library on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Ed Otte/For the Greeley Tribune)Bridget Parker will be in that June group that helps prepare for the opening. She works at the Carbon Valley Regional Library in Firestone and conducts preschool story hours. She will be the Mead Library’s children’s librarian.
Parker signed her name, the date and drew a picture of a book on the beam.
— Ed Otte is a former editor of the Greeley Tribune and a former executive director of the Colorado Press Association.
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