Our mission

Born from the 2024 “Save Rockrimmon Library” grassroots campaign, Reading at the Rock is an all-volunteer initiative to restore library access to the northwest Colorado Springs community. Located at 950 Vindicator Rd, this interim library embodies the power of collective action and the enduring value of local libraries.

Our vision

A thriving Rockrimmon community where everyone has access to a permanent, full-service library that fosters lifelong learning, social connection, and community engagement. We envision a future where public libraries remain a cornerstone of our neighborhoods, empowering individuals of all ages with knowledge, resources, and a sense of belonging.

Get to know us

Questions that might come to mind

What are we doing?
We’re working with the Christ the King Lutheran Church to open a limited services interim library at their location. They are so kind as to see this gaping hole in our community and work with us to try to help address it. I can’t say enough good things about Pastor Ashley and her congregation. Our goal is to provide a modest subset of the service to the community that our old library used to provide, especially to seniors and parents with small children.

Why is this important?
Northwest Colorado Springs doesn’t have a community center so our library served in that role, providing space for groups meeting there such as Toddler Time Reading activities and senior Yoga classes. While there’s only limited space for bookcases in the church, we’ll have some meeting space available for the community. We have a lot of seniors in the area that find it challenging to drive over to 21C or the other libraries, especially in winter driving conditions like we saw this morning and, as we all know, there is an epidemic in our society of people who feel lonely and isolated and we’re trying to alleviate that.

Community Response?
Community response has been outstanding. We have already raised over $40,000 in donations. Yesterday we had our first book donation drive that brought in so many donated books, we cancelled our planned second book donation drive.

Why did PPLD close Rockrimmon Library?
That is a great question that we’ve never received a reasonable answer to. They claimed the lease was too expensive, yet the cost of the lease was minimal, about one-half of a percent of PPLD’s budget. Further, analysis shows not only was Rockrimmon one of the most cost-efficient libraries in the entire system, but it was also one of the busiest of all the community libraries. We feel this closure was a big mistake without prior careful consideration of either the cost efficiency of the library or analysis of its customer base, such as the age of the community or the middle school a few hundred yards away. We feel the consultants who wrote the PPLD 2024 Facility Master Plan that recommended closure of the Rockrimmon Library due to high lease costs didn’t do their homework.

Why is it an “Interim” Library?
COS Reads, our nonprofit organization, is working to try to find a more permanent solution by petitioning PPLD to reopen or eventually replace the Rockrimmon Library and trying to get both the City Council and County Commissioners to support this. City Council member Dave Donaldson, who is our representative for the Rockrimmon Area, has been a huge help.

What is the name of the “Interim” Library? Opening Date?
We are calling it “Reading at the Rock – Rockrimmon Interim Library”. Opening date is TBD but probably within the next month.

from a transcript of an interview with Dr. Robin Karasopoulos (a volunteer) on KRDO 2/21/2025