Library leaders have decided they will try to buy land to build a new branch for the Alta library.

The Teton County Library Board voted during its meeting Thursday to find land after considering as many as six alternatives to provide Alta with long-term library services.

“I think the board’s decision is a positive move forward for the Alta community,” said Deb Adams, library director, in a news release. “I am quite hopeful that the board will be able to secure an acceptable site for the future of our Alta branch library.”

The library must abandon the site, located in Alta Elementary School, by June 30, 2008 due to safety and space reasons.

Future library board discussions will address how such a facility might be funded as well as ways to work with the Alta community. Since a new branch library building may not be ready before the library must vacate school property, future board discussions will address how to provide library services for Alta residents in the interim.

In addition to making decisions on the Alta branch, the library board also voted to pursue expansion and remodel of the main library on its existing site to meet an increasing community demand for services, programs and collections during the next 20 years.

“We think that adding on to our Jackson site is the most effective and responsible way to serve our community now and into the future,” said Amy Robinson, library board president, in a news release. “This decision is the first in the multi-stage process to plan our facilities.”

The board made its decision after gathering input from the community during public forums held in Jackson and Alta, reviewing written comment from the public, hearing a library staff recommendation and after meeting in a workshop with the Teton County Board of Commissioners.