A city-ordered six-day closure of four libraries in southern Arizona surprised and irked library patrons but quickly had the desired effect, helping coax Santa Cruz County officials into signing a new one-year agreement extending a 50-50 split of the system’s $497,789 operating library budget.
The Nogales–Santa Cruz County Public Library’s four branches—a main facility in Nogales, a city of about 20,000 people, and three smaller locations in more rural areas—were closed on June 19 by order of Nogales City Manager Shane Dille, an action backed by the mayor and city council. Posted notices urged patrons to contact county supervisors with any complaints, providing phone numbers to help them do so.
The previous contract expired in 2010, and the two sides have been operating on what amounts to a handshake deal ever since. Frustration over the county’s refusal to formally commit to that arrangement over the long term prompted the closures, Deputy City Manager John Kissinger told Library Journal. The city wanted a formal intergovernmental agreement (IGA) in place before its new fiscal year began July 1, Kissinger added, explaining the timing. Kissinger said the city-council partnership has served library patrons well over the years. “We see it as two governments coming together,” he told LJ. “Two can do it better than one.”
The tactic, however drastic, seemed to work. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on June 24 to accept the new IGA; all four libraries reopened the next morning.
County concerns remain
However the deal, which expires June 30, 2016, did little to assuage any dissatisfaction on the county’s part.
“We were very upset,” Santa Cruz County Manager Carlos Rivera said of the closures. “We received our monthly bill on June 4, paid it on the 17th and the libraries were closed on the 19th. We paid the bill like always.”
“It did force the board to sign the agreement,” Rivera said of the library closures, “but it doesn’t mean that it ends there.”
Santa Cruz County will continue to explore other library service options for the future as it honors the new IGA, Rivera told LJ. After six months, county officials can inform city officials of any intention not to renew the new IGA.
In the past, supervisors considered other arrangements, including a possible contract with the Patagonia Public Library, which operates one branch independent of the city and county about 24 miles north of Nogales.
The county could also impose a dedicated library tax to fund library services, instead of paying out of the general fund. Rivera described such as step as “hypothetical,” but it’s one that has been discussed publicly in previous years.
Staffing concerns remain the county’s main grievance with current library operations, Rivera said. Currently, the county manager said, a half-time FTE is the only paid staff for the system’s three outlying branches, which is insufficient for patrons’ needs. The other employees at those facilities are volunteers.
The Nogales-Rochlin Public Library, located only a few blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border, saw about 87,000 customers pass through its doors in 2014, Haddock said. That’s more than five times the traffic of the system’s second-busiest branch in Rio Rico, home to about 18,000 people. Even smaller facilities in Tubac and Sonoita barely top 3,000 visits per year. The total collection for all four libraries numbers about 74,000 volumes. About 93 percent of area residents are bilingual, Haddock said, and all six FTEs speak Spanish. “They see you as a friend if you speak Spanish,” she added.
“The board would like to see more staff,” Rivera said, adding that a new FTE would cost about $40,000.
Patron pushback
The shutdown was more akin to a lockout of library patrons. Librarians and other staffers reported for their shifts, received full pay, and performed a variety of organizational and custodial tasks.
“Everybody came to work, even the part-time people,” Library Director Suzanne Haddock told LJ. “We shifted collections and tidied up the libraries. We got a lot done.”
Regular library users weren’t happy about being barred from services, and many expressed their displeasure in local media reports. “I just don’t think they took the patrons into consideration,” Nogales resident Paulette Pineda, 64, told the Nogales International newspaper. “They’re thinking of their own pockets and not the people who live here.”
“They were upset,” Haddock said of patrons, adding that their reaction came as no surprise. “We’re wanted,” the library director said. “I think they appreciate us. We’re a needed part of the community.”