Boulder City Council votes to move toward a library district

When the pandemic hit last year, the City of Boulder had to scramble to reallocate funds and resources. The Boulder Library was one such institution subject to a budget cut; people lost their jobs and services were cut. Meanwhile, in neighboring communities with library districts, rather than libraries maintained by the municipality, those libraries were able to bounce back.

According to those in favor of a library district, COVID has only further emphasized the need for one. On May 18, Boulder City Council met to discuss the formation of a proposed district, and representatives from the Boulder Library Champions (BLC), the Boulder Library Commission and community members were all given the opportunity to speak.

BLC founder Joni Teter said, "The speakers were amazing." She and Boulder Library Commissioner Juana Gomez agreed that speakers were passionate and described how those who spoke at the meeting shared stories about the library's significance in their lives.

The meeting largely focused on the logistics of the matter; how quickly the council will move forward with the formation and what that would look like.

According to a release from the BLC, "Council wants to work through a conceptual intergovernmental agreement (IGA) before voting on a resolution to form a library district." teh BLC said that this statement is interesting because, based on library law, the steps council is taking are out of sequence.

Teter said typically the town/county should first pass a resolution to form a district before appointing library trustees, who then negotiate an IGA between the district and the city. She thinks that with the way Boulder City Council has chosen to proceed, there's risk that the library trustees and/or eventual leadership will want to renegotiate the IGA after terms have already been set. "Library trustees have a responsibility to represent the district," Teter added.

However, the city's approach will more directly outline what the transition to a district looks like, which hopefully means that the community will be more informed when it finally comes time to a funding vote.

Additionally, the council decided that a committee will be established in October. This committee will be responsible for working through the IGA, which will be evaluated by the next council in early 2022.

"Some [of the committee] may go on to become library district trustees," Teter said. "We hope that we [BLC] will have representation on this committee. I'll be astonished if they don't appoint a person or two from the BLC or a person or two from the Boulder Library Commission."

Another potential benefit of establishing a district would be to streamline the media collections and services provided. "All libraries operate slightly differently," said Teter. "The [Boulder] staff were really creative about delivering services. I don't know what other libraries have done, but I think everyone would want to [be creative and engage with the community]."

Teter expressed some surprise that Tuesday's vote was unanimous. Previously, the council was somewhat split, but even some community members who were previously opposed to the district came forward in favor.

Some of the concerns mentioned were in regard to property taxes, while others expressed confusion about the library's current plan of instituting a "corner library" in Gunbarrel. Teter said, "If you do a corner library for a few years, it gives really good information as to how to establish a permanent library... and see what's the right mix [of media collections and services] before committing to a full- blown library."

The BLC's next steps are to raise awareness and outreach about what a district would mean. They hope to host community events where people can engage with each other while learning and talking about the library, its current needs, and forming a district. The BLC has information on its website about joining the outreach planning committee.