The Pima County Public Library advisory board will hold a special meeting Tuesday night to discuss alternatives to library closures proposed in a recent and controversial internal library report.
The closure of several branches, including the downsizing of Tucson’s downtown library, are part of a series of proposals for the Pima County Public Library system laid out in a memo and draft report shared to the Pima County Board of Supervisors by County Administrator Jan Lesher dated Aug. 16.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the second time the library advisory board will discuss the Libraries of the Futures report in a public meeting.
The advisory board does not have the power to make any binding decisions, but was appointed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors to advise the library director.
How to attend
In person: Joel D. Valdez Main Library Fourth Floor Boardroom at 101 N. Stone Ave.
Virtually: Call in at 1-602-649-0382 enter Conference ID: 581 658 536#.
Submit a comment: The board requests speakers to call 520-594-5602 by no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24.
The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting will discuss the Futures planning draft, staffing difficulties at libraries and consider alternatives to proposals made by library leadership.
Library director Amber Mathewson told Arizona Luminaria the meeting is likely to address a new timeline for community engagement on the proposal. Mathewson said she does not anticipate a vote from the county board “on any proposal until at least next spring.”
The proposed closures are:
- 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.
In the report, Pima County library leadership lays out a stark warning about a lack of staffing and strain caused by providing services to unhoused residents has put on the library’s ability to serve constituents.
“However painful it may be, we cannot continue to support the full number of 27 library locations with our available staff,” the report from the Pima County Public Library says.
Library patrons and advocates for unhoused communities said they were shocked and upset by the report, and shared their concerns in a flood of emails, on social media and in a packed advisory board meeting in early Sept.
“Books have changed my life, my love for this community,” said business owner Kristin Tovar at that meeting, emotion shaking her voice. “Honestly, just to belong somewhere, it’s just so rare.”
During the first library advisory board meeting to take place since the proposal was published, board members suggested staggering library closures as well as increasing funding for the library.
Read the full Libraries of the Future draft here.
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