5 new updates about library closures in Tucson. Residents push back: ‘Books have changed my life’

A place to study. A place to get online. A place to read a newspaper, grab a detective novel, cool off, search for a job or see a friendly face on a lonely day.

Those are among the ways that public libraries have touched the lives of Pima County residents according to a flood of emails and public comments shared with the region’s library advisory board.

“I wouldn’t be here” if it wasn’t for public libraries, said Marley Mae Webster, speaking at the library advisory board’s Sept. 5 meeting during the public comment. They relied on the libraries for a safe space, particularly when they were briefly unhoused.

“If you take them (the libraries) away, it’s really hard to ever get any space like that back. You take it away, the less people think about having spaces like that,” Webster said, their eyes widening behind metal-rimmed glasses.

The first library advisory board meeting since the release of a proposed plan to close multiple library branches — either permanently or temporarily — was full of emotional pleas and a contentious discussion between library leadership and advisory board members.

The proposed changes to the library system were shared by Arizona Luminaria based on a memo and draft report to the Pima County Board of Supervisors by county administrator Jan Lesher dated Aug. 16. “Our new focus unlinks our services from brick-and-mortar, to make us nimble, responsive, innovative, and relevant to all communities as we go where customers are — both in person and online,” the report said.

The Pima County Public Library system runs 27 physical library locations and one virtual library, according to the report. The proposal would close three libraries permanently for public use and two temporarily.

The libraries facing permanent closure were opened as part of a smaller library approach created several decades ago to bring resources to underserved communities. However, the facilities have been difficult to maintain as robust local libraries, the report said.

On Thursday, library leadership presenting to the board underscored a vision for libraries that moved away from brick-and-mortar buildings as a center for community services.

“Across America, library buildings are going away,” said Reneé Bibby, library services manager for marketing and communications. “Buildings are not the heart of the library. What’s inside is the heart of the library.”

For residents who came to speak in favor of keeping libraries open, access to uniting inside physical buildings filled with books is the heart of the community library experience.

Logan Phillips, a one time writer-in-residency at the library and who has led library programs in the past, said he and his family bike to their nearby branches.

“I’ve been at libraries from opening to closing, eating lunch in the break rooms and watching the beautiful dance of the people power that make the libraries tick,” he said.

“We understand that the challenges faced in our county and our system and our society are real, and I’ve seen them at the libraries firsthand, and I know that we live in a society that has been aptly described as having a safety net that is completely shredded. And I know the library system can’t solve systemic issues on its own, but that is why we are here, because we believe the answer to these challenges we face is not to reduce the system.”

While the advisory board does not have the power to make any binding decisions on the future of Pima County libraries, the Thursday meeting offered a public space for concerned community members to weigh in. The board, appointed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors, also advises the library director. The final decision on any proposed closures or renovations rests with the board of supervisors.

So many people attended the meeting in person that some had to watch standing and from the hallway. Board members echoed the importance of the library to local communities, and their questions about its future.

“You all have a more clear picture of what you’re envisioning that is exciting that we don’t have those details about,” said board member Mariana Padias, speaking to library leadership. The report proposed book borrowing services, in some cases, moving to book lockers, pop-up libraries that are present in a specific place for a short period of time and then close, or book-mobiles. “And so for us, it feels like losing a place that we all have access to in return for pop-ups.”

Proposed closures by the end 2024 for several libraries have now been put on hold for further discussion. Potential changes in the report include the following libraries:

• Temporarily closing Joel D. Valdez Main Library for downsizing and renovations.
• Closing Dewhirst-Catalina Library.
• Closing Santa Rosa Library.
• Closing Frank De La Cruz-El Pueblo Library; opening a community-focused library office in its place.
• Temporarily closing Southwest Library once Richard Elías-Mission Library reopens in fall 2025. Begin building new Southwest Library in 2026.

Here are five things to know from Thursday’s meeting:

1. Valdez won’t close for renovation in December

The timeline laid out in the draft report put the first library closures, either permanently or for renovation, in December. That timeline for Valdez, the downtown library, is no longer a working proposal.

“That won’t be happening this year,” said library director Amber Mathewson.

The timeline of other proposed closures was also discussed, with some alternatives put forward.

Among the concerns raised on Thursday night were that closing both the Santa Rosa library branch and the main Valdez library at the same time would significantly impact people who live downtown and in nearby communities.

In response, board member Rebecca Peralta proposed keeping Santa Rita open through the duration of the downtown library remodeling.

How to get involved

Attend library board meetings. Meetings are scheduled for 4 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month on the fourth floor of the Valdez Main Library at 101 N. Stone Ave. Meetings are open to the public. The Library Advisory Board is appointed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors to advise the county library director. Check out the agendas for ways to join virtually and to confirm a meeting isn’t cancelled. Email advisory board members: Library.Board@pima.gov .

Join a mutual aid organizing effort to protest cuts in library services. Community Care Tucson works with unsheltered communities and is campaigning to stop cuts to library services. Get in touch with them on instagram @communitycaretucson

Contact your county supervisor . Pima County supervisors oversee the special funding district for the library system, and they will ultimately vote on any closures or relocations. You can contact each supervisor through a link to their web page .

“If we take two away at the same time, that might cause some difficulties,” Peralta said. “As long as we have one open,” it will give people on the west side of the city a more accessible library option.

Other board members suggested a slower approach to the system changes.

“I think it has to be much slower, and I love the idea of breaking it up so it’s not all one thing,” board member Sharon Foltz said.

2. Tusconans love their libraries — and they fear losing the community space buildings provide

The library advisory board said they had heard from an unprecedented number of residents in response to the proposal that would close down multiple libraries in Pima County.

At the core of many of those comments was people’s love for libraries, and their connection to having physical buildings as physical community spaces that are publicly accessible.

Business owner Kristin Tovar spoke at the meeting about her shock upon learning about the proposed closures on social media while on vacation, and not being able to stop thinking about what this would mean for the future of Tucson.

“Books have changed my life, my love for this community,” said Tovar, emotion shaking her voice. “Honestly, just to belong somewhere, it’s just so rare.”

“What I want to ask is for us to think creatively about how we might solve this problem in different ways than just closing libraries,” she said.

Doniz Leon, a lifelong Tucson resident, said he feared that shuttering these few libraries would pave the way for making closures the go-to solution for any budget or staffing issues.

“If we continue the plan in this way, not only will these libraries be closed, but more will be closed in the future,” he said, pacing back and forth in front of board members in the packed meeting room.

Many people spoke to what the American Library Association says is the essential role of libraries: as “guardians” of the public’s access to information.

“Core values of the library community such as equal access to information, intellectual freedom, and the objective stewardship and provision of information must be preserved and strengthened, now more than ever,” the organization writes in its stance on intellectual freedom .

3. Staffing gaps, non-competitive pay make library jobs difficult

In a presentation on Thursday, a member of the library staff spoke about how chronic staffing gaps have impacted the library’s ability to provide programming at some locations.

The basic parts of a librarian’s job are both practical and administrative, said Library Service Manager Em DeMeester-Lane.

“There’s a limited capacity. They have to do basic work to just keep the doors open at a library. They also have work that is part of the library job and a lot of the things that they love to do,” he said. “Some of that work is working a desk. It’s being in charge of a building. It’s putting in facilities reports. It’s meeting with direct reports if you’re a supervisor. It’s planning and presenting story times and programs that you all love so much. It’s managing timesheets. It’s writing a schedule.”

When meeting those responsibilities is tight, the cuts are most likely to come from programming.

“We knew we were understaffed, but I have to be honest that it wasn’t until we built a staffing tool that understood our staffing, that we understood the magnitude of these gaps,” DeMeester-Lane said. “If we’re unable to make any changes, we’re going to end up in a situation where the cuts have to come somewhere, and they have to come from programming.”

Those day-to-day pressures on the job are magnified by pay and staffing issues that have made it difficult to fill open positions, he said.

“We have historically had a hard time hiring all of the positions that we have because our wage has not been competitive, or we have salary benefits issues,” DeMeester-Lane said. The library has lost the equivalent of 64 permanent staff positions since 2020. “That is, conservatively, 25% of the workforce we had in 2020 when COVID first started and it has had a great impact on our staff.”

4. Public, and some board members, call for more funding

Among the solutions put forward by both some board members and members of the public who submitted comments was the need for more library resources to help libraries meet the rising needs they faced.

A coalition of mutual aid groups, including Community Care Tucson, Gator-Aid, Reconciliación en el Rio Santa Cruz, No New Jail Coalition, Tucson Democratic Socialists of America, Amphi Liberation Mutual Aid, Community on Wheels, and Just Communities, sent a letter to the library board.

“We believe that as a community, we have a shared responsibility to provide space and services for all people, including harm reduction for people in chaotic drug use, bathroom access, access to computers, and respite from extreme heat. We understand that libraries can not provide all these services,” the response said.

The groups thanked librarians for taking on their job responsibilities but also the roles of medical workers, public health workers and social workers. They called for a plan on how county officials would replace lost access to cooling centers, Narcan distribution, bathroom access and navigators for benefits and housing applications if library buildings were closed.

“Although we agree that these are not the appropriate location for all services, we have a collective responsibility to figure out where the services can and will be provided. We believe this is an opportunity to fund and open MORE public spaces, instead of closing existing ones.”

Some board members echoed a similar sentiment.

“The only solution is more funding,” said board member Craig Kleine. “Everything else is a compromise. And nobody in this room can make that decision.”

5. Advisory board members want more public engagement before final decisions

“It will help people have a part in this process if we have the same level of concreteness in terms of where and how we’re going to get the community input,” said board member Mariana Padias.

Board member John Halliday also said the proposals seemed premature for him to make any recommendations to the supervisor who appointed him.

“What I think should happen now is a real public engagement process, have public meetings, focus groups, surveys, all sorts of things, where you can do the public input,” Halliday said.

Library board leaders said they were working with a community assessment expert from the University of Arizona to develop a survey that would be out soon. However, they did not provide a specific timeline.

Interested residents should look for updates about the survey on the county library website and social media , they said.

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