HIGHLAND -- Six months ago, on Oct. 25, the new Highland City Library opened with lines of residents waiting to get their first city library card, harp music in the background and characters such as the Cat in the Hat and Laura from "Little House on the Prairie" greeting people. Stacks of boxes containing new books filled one end of the main room, waiting to be shelved.

The stacks are much smaller now, but there is still work to be done. Head librarian Kent Slade said that once the boxes are unloaded, a roomful of books from the former Highland/Alpine library at Mountain Ridge Junior High School will be sorted and added to the collection.

The library has already issued 3,200 library cards. One of the newest cardholders is 12-year-old Matt Carter, who received his first library card April 16.

"I had to get one for the reading merit badge, and also, the school library at Mountain Ridge is hard to get things from," he said. Matt plans to check out movies and fantasy books such as "Battle of the Labyrinth" from the Lightning Thief series.

Library cards are free to Highland residents, with no limit on the number of cards per household. Residents from other cities may obtain a card for $50 a year, with partial reimbursement from their cities.

When the library opened, it had 5,000 books and audiovisual materials; as of April 13 there were 17,400 items on the shelves. The library's goal is to have 25,000 items ready to be checked out.

Another change is that patrons may check out 10 items at a time -- double the five-item limit from when the library first opened.

Many additional services are also available for patrons, including computers and wireless Internet. Recently, 12-year-old Courtney DeKorver enjoyed playing "Farm Frenzy" on a library computer. She said she comes to the library to do her homework and help put books away.

For those seeking outside recreation, free day-use passes for state parks are available.

"People get free access for a week," Slade said. "The state parks division implemented the program to get kids back into nature."

The interlibrary loan program helps patrons who are looking for a particular item that is unavailable at the Highland library.

"It is designed to help supplement what we have," Slade said. "The state library service handles that. They send it to us and we notify the patron." Patrons are limited to three interlibrary requests per month.

"When a lot of people request [specific] things, there is a good chance we will try to buy it as well," Slade said.

Eventually, the Highland library hopes to become part of the North Utah County Library Cooperative, which would give Highland residents access to American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lehi and Eagle Mountain libraries.

The certification process requires that the library be operating for three years, during which time the library must continue to meet other requirements, such as having a certified librarian, trained staff and solid financing from the city.

"The cooperative wants to make sure we have the staff and resources to support our own usage before we join," Slade said.

The library is on its way to fulfilling the mission statement, which is "to foster a sense of community by providing a gathering place, facilitating access to information, promoting the joy of reading and sponsoring activities that promote learning."

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