The Pennington County Commission has bought in to a proposed new community library at Western Dakota Technical Institute - to the tune of $1 million.

Commissioners voted Tuesday to contribute $500,000 this year and $500,000 in 2010 to the library, which will be a shared project of the county, the city of Rapid City and the Rapid City Area School District, according to Jay Alderman, chief deputy state's attorney for Pennington County.

However, the county will continue to pay the city of Rapid City for library services to county residents.

Alderman said the county contracts with the city, paying 14.5 percent of the Rapid City Public Library's operating expenses. This year, that amounted to just less than $400,000, after adjustments to the percentage formula.

He said the city will take the county money and use it to support both Rapid City Public Library and the new community library at WDTI.

Alderman said he didn't have further details about the WDTI project.

Officials at the technical school said more information could become available Wednesday during a meeting of the South Dakota Board of Education held at the Rapid City campus.

The state board last spring heard a plan for campus expansion and improvements at South Dakota's four technical schools that would cost about $24 million initially, including $8 million for WDTI.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8415 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com.