The Stamp Collecting Center of the Rocky Mountain West 

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Hours of Operation

Monday	10am-4pm
Tuesday	10am-4pm
Wednesday	10am-4pm
Thursday	2pm-8pm
Friday	10am-4pm
Saturday	10am-4pm
Sunday	Closed

Location

2038 S. Pontiac Way
Denver, CO 80224

Phone

(303) 759-9921

A Quick Look at Our History and Building

The Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library had its beginnings in 1993 when a group of area philatelists gathered to determine whether this "wild idea" would be feasible. At this meeting all decided it was a good idea and with the donation of a storefront by Dave Capra, rent free, we started gathering materials. Some members of this original group put up the necessary money for shelves, desks, tables and chairs. On August 1, 1993 we opened for business near South Peoria and Parker Road in Aurora. While we were getting rent-free space, we still hoped to have our own space.

A little over a year later Dave said that he (and a partner) had a chance to lease the space. He had another unit next door (less than 1/2 the size of the original unit) that we could use. At this point we started looking quite seriously for a building that we could buy - yes buy! About six months after the move Dave told us that he (and the partner) had a chance to lease the space we were in, but that we could use storage space rent free until we found a location.

We looked at all kinds of buildings in all kinds of locations. Not all buildings are suitable for the weight load factors of shelves loaded with books and magazines. After hectic negotiations, we finally purchased the building at 2038 So. Pontiac Way. It was in a good neighborhood, had a cement slab floor and it had about 3300 sq. ft. of space. There was only one thing wrong - it was a mess - dark and damp. That is why we could afford it. After we had a new roof installed, we started to work on the interior - painting, cleaning, taking out several small rooms, putting up wall board, remodeling the dropped ceiling, and working on the electrical scheme. All of this was done by volunteer labor. We had industrial grade carpeting put in and on August 3, 1996 we reopened for business in our own building. We won't go into how we did the financing, but we paid off the loans in seven years - eight years ahead of schedule!

Now, Let's Take a Look Inside Our Building...

The view just inside the front door of the library.	As one walks through the door of the RMPL the first thing you see are rows of shelves loaded with books (later you realize that there are six rows as well as rows of shelves around most of the room). A turn to the right and you see an "L" shape counter and a registration book.
The front counter is on the left near the center of the picture.	After you have signed the register you turn around and see the computer station where the user can search for books of interest - just like using the old card catalog, only better. A turn to the right and you will see six filling cabinets.
Thomas Crane takes a look in the clipping files.	These hold our "Clipping Files" which contain thousands of articles clipped from newspaper type philatelic publications, all filed alphabetically by subject.
Board Member Emiterus Jack Willard in the Western History and Railroad room. Jack donated most of he books in the room to the RMPL.	We enter a door and we are in a room that contains a very special collection of approximately 1,500 books - the Western History and Railroad collection. Many of our members are interested in the postal history of the Western States and railroads of the west so this collection contains a wealth of information for that collector. As we leave the "Western History" room we take a quick turn to the left and enter the Map Room.
Dave Capra and Dave Reitsema look up some maps.	In this small room we have a large completely indexed collection of maps and atlases ready for use as reference material. RMPL Corresponding Secretary Bob Brown is in charge of this room. We leave this room and go a few steps to the left and enter another room.
RMPL Vice President Jim Kilbane is also one of the caretakers of the National Scandinavian Club Library.	This is the home of the national Scandinavian Collectors Club library. It contains a collection of materials related to Scandinavian philately. The national club was searching for a place to put their library and contacted the RMPL to see if there was any room. Although space has become quite dear, they were allowed to store their materials in this room and they operate their library from there. As you walk out of the SCC library room and turn left you see shelves along the wall and continuing across the back of the room and into the back hallway and a back room.
Case Hanau and Joy Wall look over materials in the back room.	These shelves hold the periodicals, auction catalogs, show catalogs, and more. The back room alone has 1/3 as much shelf space as the entire main room. This is because it has compact shelving on rails, the same as you may have seem in some libraries, or doctors or lawyers offices.
Joy shows how easy it is to move shelves in the back room.	At the other end of the back hallway, you come to a small room where we have a refrigerator, microwave, stove, sink, and the all important coffee maker. Here you will also find dozens of slide shows available for stamp club meetings in the Denver area and a section of philatelic related videotapes. CDs and DVDs used to be here, but were recently integrated into the main stacks.

Meeting Area

Re-entering the main room you will find an area where there are tables and chairs as well as an overstuffed chair and sofas. This is the area that is used for the libraries programs and events, and by a dozen area stamp clubs for their meetings. To learn more about the libraries programs and events click on the Event Schedule menu link. To learn more about the area's stamp clubs click on the Area Stamp Clubs menu link.	Maury Pautz presides over one of the many meetings held at the RMPL. (Photo by Ron Hill)
Back to the shelving in the center of the room - we start on the left side of the room as you come in. Here is where you will find worldwide catalogs such as Gibbons, Scott's (back to the 1890's), Minkus, etc. Just inside the first row of shelves we start with all of the books that have been cataloged and are arranged in Dewey Decimal order. Following these books we have a shelf section specifically for topical collectors. Altogether we have over 12,000 books that have been cataloged and can be found in our search computer.	A wide view of the meeting and reading area. Stamps for sale are in shelves that line the wall on the left.
Following the books, we have our periodical collection. This continues through the rest of the shelving in the center of the room and extends about halfway down the right hand wall looking at the room as you enter. We have more than 1,100 different periodical publications, with more than 60,000 issues	The Mexico-Latin America Study Group meets the second Saturday of every month.
On the right hand side of the room at the front is the Librarian's office where we have the master computer and where many of our records are kept.	Volunteer librarian Ellengail Beuthel is probably the most important person at the RMPL. It is likely there would not be a library without her help the last 15 years.
The tour is now complete as you have returned to the sign in and checkout counter...	Another very valuable volunteer is Charles Baker. He keeps our six computers and dozens of software programs humming.

More Information

Behind the counter you will see a large steel cabinet where we keep our "locked case materials" - materials that are either too old or too expensive to be kept with the regular materials. These can be used only on the premises for research.

Those of us who are actively involved in the RMPL are quite proud of what has been accomplished. We are an all volunteer organization - about 20-25 volunteers keep the doors open 6 days per week. Our hours are 10 - 4 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursdays we are open from 2 - 8. We are closed on Sundays and all Federal holidays.

Generous philatelists from around the country have donated almost everything in the building. We thank each and every one of them. The Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library has 501 (c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service. We are a public charity and donations to the RMPL are considered a charitable deduction on Federal Income Tax forms. The RMPL is supported by over 450 members and by donations of funds and materials.

The Sales Division, headed by Board Member Sergio Lugo, is a vital part of our fundraising activities. Sergio supervises about 20 volunteers who help sort donations of collections and prepare them for sale. We have a sales section in the library that is broken down into categories:

• 5¢ books, stamps that catalog up to 50¢
• 10¢ books, stamps that catalog up to $1
• Priced as Marked books, stamps that catalog over $1
• Covers, postcards, FDCs, postal history
• Topicals, neatly arranged by topic

One of the most active groups meeting at the library every third Saturday from 9:30-noon is the Metro Denver Young Stamp Collectors Club. Four adult volunteers keep the kids interested and challenged. This work spills over to every local stamp show where a youth table is provided. The RMPL provides materials for use at all of those booths.

We offer assistance to persons who have "inherited" stamp collections helping them to find the best way to dispose of the collections.

We are a philatelic research library and try to help the individual collector.

We truly are the Philatelic Center of the Rocky Mountain region... Stop by for a visit! We think you will be surprised.

Copyright 2001-2009 - Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library. All rights reserved The Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library is a chartered Colorado non-profit corporation. Membership subscriptions over that for the annual regular membership, and donations of appropriate philatelic materials, are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes. The RMPL is an Internal Revenue Service designated 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.