One of the top issues facing Aurora City Council in the new year: what to do about the library system. Branches have closed and reopened. Tax hikes to support them have been proposed and voted down.
Now, city leaders say they have a bunch of new ideas about what to do with the four branches that remain open and how to fund them.
They’ll use a study session next month to talk about their concepts.
“My personal opinion is that we can’t keep taking away things and then putting them back in place and then taking them away again,” said Councilwoman Renie Peterson, who does not favor a library tax. “Unless it’s a final fix, I’m not concerned about talking about fixing it.”
Some council members want to ask voters again for a property-tax increase and create a separate library district.
Others say the city should open computer labs throughout the city so patrons can read online or conduct job searches.
The city could also reopen all of the libraries and find money in the general fund to do that every year.
“I think the high ground is to push forward with a library district,” Councilwoman Molly Markert said. “That way, it’s protected, it’s designated, it’s carved out. To me, it’s the professional way to do libraries.”
Two years ago, four of the city’s seven libraries were closed after voters rejected a tax hike to support them. The Mission Viejo library was reopened in January on a limited basis in an effort to settle a lawsuit over the closure.
The reopening, however, was contingent on voters in the area passing a tax hike to keep it open. The tax increase was rejected.
Mission Viejo was slated to close at the end of this month, but the city gave it a 90-day reprieve as council members develop library-funding plans.
Since the closures in 2010, the number of visits have declined but not as much as one would think, library director Patti Bateman said.
Last year, the city logged about 800,000 library patrons, down from 1.3 million in 2009. This year, Bateman estimates the user tally will finish at about 760,000.
Bateman said new discussions surrounding the library issue are a good thing, allowing the city to rethink how it provides library services.
“I think the four we have remaining are fairly well used, particularly the central library,” Bateman said. “But we are somewhat fearful some folks we lost are not able to go to another library system because they had no transportation and now have no library services at all.”
One idea floated by other council members, including member Bob FitzGerald, is to open computer labs throughout the city, which would be much cheaper to staff, he said.
He also said the city could dip into savings it will reap from lowering the police-to-resident ratio, but that would not solve the problem longterm.
Councilman Bob Broom says Aurora could partner with Denver to create a single library district that other cities could join as well.
“If we all joined together, there would be more efficiencies,” he said.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
