Mesquite city leaders are considering closing one of two branch libraries and relocating some services to neighborhood recreation centers — two of which are being considered for closure.
Under the proposal, the city would consolidate the North Branch Library with the neighboring Florence Recreation Center. Services would also shift to nearby Evans Recreation Center and Rutherford Recreation Center in south Mesquite.
City manager Cliff Keheley told KERA the consolidation would “provide services throughout the community.”
“We don't have anything in our southern sector and there's a large population out there that doesn't have access to these services,” Keheley said. “The proposal that was put in place says what if we took the savings from operating two buildings and operated out of one building, but utilizing our recreation centers to be the hubs of library services in the areas that are currently not served.”
He said the plan would include a "mobile library” that would go to different schools, daycares, and other community sites.
“I know there's a lot of feelings towards the place where they've always gone to the library and all of that, but this is a different way of looking at it,” he said.
The proposal was presented at a recent workshop as the city works on its next budget. City Council member Elizabeth Rodriguez-Ross said she opposes consolidation, questioning the need when the city isn’t facing a budget deficit.
She told KERA she grew up across the street from the North Branch Library and said it served as a “meeting [place] for our community.”
“I'm the first minority woman to be elected to the city council here in the city of Mesquite and the North Branch Library directly contributed to that,” Rodriguez-Ross said. “I would be doing a great disservice and injustice to any other little kid out in Mesquite that had dreams of becoming something bigger if I didn't fight to keep this library open.”
She said she hasn’t seen a blueprint of a recreation center with a library component included, and is concerned the city won’t follow through with relocating services — something resident Genesis Blanco said would affect her young children and families like hers.
Blanco was one of more than a dozen parents at the North Branch Library Monday morning for a toddler story time. She said classes like these help her kids develop their social skills.
“It's more beneficial for the kids nowadays, especially when there are limited resources in the schools,” Blanco said.
City Council member Jeff Casper, who represents the district where the library is located, said the consolidation plan provides “equitable access” to those resources throughout the city.
“What we're looking at is distributing our collection, our technology, our librarians into existing city buildings where residents are already showing up, participating, interacting with their community,” Casper said.
He said the additional hours — including on Sundays — would benefit working families.
“The time that it's convenient for them to access city services is on the weekend,” he said, “so by shifting to get our librarians out into the community by only having main librarians in these park and rec centers, we actually would be able to expand our geographic access, but also our hourly access to include Sunday openings."
While the city council has not voted on the closure of the Dunford and Goodbar Recreation Centers, they agreed during a recent budget workshop to go in that direction.
The city could still opt to keep both branch libraries; a presentation given during this month’s budget workshop said both would need repairs to fix aging infrastructure. The discussion comes as other North Texas cities, including Dallas, are considering closing some of their branch libraries.
The Mesquite City Council will vote in September on whether to maintain both branches or shift to the proposed new model.
City Manager Keheley said if the proposal is approved, it would be implemented over several months.
“We really want to try to do it right the first time,” he said. “It's just over the next few years, we see this pressure of not being able to expand services, not having funds to expand service. And we want to try to make those changes now rather than put ourselves into a position like some cities where they're having to close libraries because they can't afford them.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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