Decision to pause construction of Acres Homes library will hurt community, leaders say

The pause in construction of the North Regional Library in Acres Homes — just months after a swath of dignitaries hosted a groundbreaking for the project with much fanfare — will create a wide ripple across a community that is currently underserved by its lone and little 48-year-old public library, civic leaders say.

And, they say, they will fight back against the decision.

“We’ve had the Beulah-Shepard Library forever,” says Latisha Grant, president of the Acres Homes Super Neighborhood Council. “I mean, we’ve had that library since my mom was in high school.”

And not much has changed since. First opened in 1976, the library at the corner of  South Victory Street and West Montgomery Road has undergone one massive renovation — in 1999. Hemmed into an acute corner lot by an auto parts dealer, the library — renamed for community activist Beulah Shepard in 2012, two years after her passing — has a maximum capacity of 97 people. It is neat and tidy, flush with sunlight and home to a children’s corner brimming with board books.

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But, Grant notes, it’s not enough to serve a community as large as Acres Homes, where households are more likely to include school-aged children than the average Houston home .

And those families, according to the Pew Research Center, are more likely than the general public to view an accessible local library as an important resource for their families; Pew reports that 54 percent of parents with small children say libraries are very important for them and their families versus 42 percent of all adults.

As the city put it in the 2023-2027 Capital Improvement Plan, where the 20,000 square-foot regional library was pitched: “Currently there is no full-service library in this North area of Houston.”

The regional library would bring “vibrant, engaging spaces for all ages, including a children’s STEM lab and flexible meeting and conference spaces,” former Mayor Sylvester Turner said at the library’s groundbreaking in December, just two weeks before the end of his term.

“As we break ground for this new library, we are laying the groundwork for a brighter future — one built on the pillars of knowledge, unity and opportunity.”

“It’s an older library, and you know how they function,” Grant says. “That’s one of the main reasons we were so excited about the new library: Now you have the opportunity to get caught up with the rest of the world, with the technology, with a bigger space and a bigger platform.”

News that the construction of the new North Regional library is being paused came as a complete shock to Grant.

“We’re a community that is often left with empty promises,” she says. “And I have spoken to a few residents that are aware of the pause, and they’re devastated. Because they say ‘pause,’ but often when it comes to our community, paused means it’s not happening.”

The funding for proposed projects across the city’s library system is “currently fluid and an ongoing discussion,” said Cynthia Wilson, interim executive director of the city’s library system.

“Based on the current budget projected shortfall, the $10 million budget gap for the proposed North Regional Library is being reviewed,” Wilson said earlier this month. “The conversation about library conditions in existing sites is ongoing and speaks to the need of improving conditions across the city.”

It is not yet set in stone that money from the project will be earmarked for the renovations needed to resuscitate the Freed-Montrose Branch — another of the city’s older libraries, in a much wealthier neighborhood. That branch could see funds drawn from local Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones . But there are other branches that Wilson notes are in need of money after May’s deadly derecho damaged city structures across Houston.

“Some were damaged in the recent weather emergency and need extensive repair,” Wilson said. “Every city dollar counts, and our decisions will be made in the overall best interest of our community/communities.”

But what about the best interest of Acres Homes, asks Grant, who said she feels as though this latest “pause” is just one more example of the largely-Black community being once again “overlooked and underserved.”

She’s not the only person who sees it that way.

“Honestly, the idea of us not getting the North Regional Library is infuriating. We can’t keep on taking away from communities that are already suffering,” said At Large City Council Member Letitia Plummer. “I understand that we have to balance the budget, and I understand that we have to reallocate funds. But we have to find different ways of doing it. We can’t take away resources that have already been allocated to one place, and move them somewhere else. Not in communities that are already struggling.”

While Grant is uncertain what kind of power members of her community can wield to ensure the library they desperately need comes to fruition, Plummer is clear on her plan of action: When the reallocation of funds is brought forth to city council — as it must be, per city charter — Plummer plans to make her concerns known.

“I don’t see how this reallocation of funds is going to pass, to be honest with you,” she said. “Even council members who are getting money to go to libraries in their districts are upset about it.”