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In ongoing budget talks, Navajo County Library District Director Geneva Durkee updated the Board of Supervisors on the accomplishments of her department in the past year as well as the struggles that lay ahead with the impending budget cuts at the May 28 meeting.
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Currently, the library district is run by a staff of three, who work to help the 15 library entities throughout the county maintain their book collections, which include ebooks and audiobooks, as well as engage in programs for children with a special emphasis on preschoolers and elementary age students.
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“Right now we are working to enhance the ebook and eaudiobook collection with the Cloud Link app,” shared Durkee. “This enables us to utilize any other collection in the Arizona library system that uses the cloud library.”
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When other cities and counties within Arizona with more financial resources use the Cloud Library, the Navajo County libraries can access those digital books.
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“The Chandler Public Library is one of the big subscribers to ebooks,” continued Durkee. “We pay $500 a year to add to that. Cloud Library is gaining popularity.”
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With the resignation of the Erate Consultant, Durkee took over the process of getting funding commitments for the 15 library entities in Navajo County. The result is the following funding commitments for the upcoming year:
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Holbrook Public Library, $4,860; Snowflake-Taylor Public Library, $8,019; Hopi Public Library System, $22,493; Kayenta Community Library, $1,728; Show Low Public Library, $3,360; Pinetop-Lakeside Public Library, $3,322; White Mountain Apache Libraries that include Whiteriver, Cibecue and McNary, $15,682; Library District and four small libraries, $26,557.
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Additionally, the library district has been working on the rotation of four of the rotating collections, which provides new material to the libraries, as well as working with a Leap Into Science grant to increase preschool awareness and knowledge for Science, Technology Engineering and Math.
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The Hopi Library System will be having an open house on June 3 for their new library in the First Mesa Youth Center. Durkee said it will be known as the Polacca Branch and has been added into the system.
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The McNary Public Library, which burned down in June 2017, is very close to having its grand opening. While the building was largely reconstructed through grants, Durkee was able to get a Bookapalooza grant that enable McNary to purchase 55 boxes of children, juvenile and teen books. “Children’s books are difficult to acquire,” noted Durkee, “And this grant gave us what we needed to replace what was lost in the fire.”
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But like nearly every department in the county, the library district is facing challenges with the revenue losses.
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“We have been so lucky in the past that the computers we have gotten are largely acquired through grants,” shared Durkee. “But those grants are no longer a possibility. We have a mobile computer lab of 14 laptops that are in need of being replaced. Ebooks and eaudiobooks are so expensive, but the demand is increasing.”
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Also, of concern is the Woodruff Community Library, which Durkee said was thinking of closing their doors because they are running out of money. With the minimum wage increasing to $12 an hour, there are serious questions as to whether the upcoming budget will be able to support those increases for Woodruff.
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In her conclusion, Durkee noted, “Our vehicle is getting pretty ancient and we still struggle with just a staff of three. If we had more staff, we could do more children’s programs and process more grants.”
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Chairwoman Dawnafe Whitesinger thanked Durkee for her presentation, saying, “Thank you for allowing us to see what is happening in your department. Our community members really appreciate the libraries. It is a place where they can search for jobs and get resources. Libraries are very instrumental in our communities.”
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