City staff say they will return in March with revised proposals, broader public input after criticism of the original plan to shutter four neighborhood branches.
By María Ramos Pacheco
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Dallas officials say they will come up with revised options in March for reshaping its public library system after sharp criticism last week over a proposal to close four neighborhood branches.
Those on the chopping block were the Oak Lawn Branch, the Skyline Branch in the Buckner Terrace neighborhood, the Renner Frankford Branch in Far North Dallas and the Arcadia Park Branch in West Dallas.
In a memo sent Friday to Mayor Eric Johnson and City Council members, city staff outlined changes to their approach after the contentious Jan. 20 meeting of the council’s Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee.
Council members and residents said they were blindsided by the proposal and questioned how the sites were chosen. One council member called the communication process abrupt, “shocking and inappropriate.”
Sessions delayed
Library officials said six community meetings originally scheduled for late January and early February will be postponed to give staff time to reassess the next steps.
During that period, the Dallas Public Library will partner with the Friends of the Dallas Public Library to conduct a citywide survey aimed at gathering broader public input.
When staff returns to the committee in March, the memo says, the presentation will incorporate additional analysis that council members said was missing, including:
- Historical significance of library locations.
- Proximity to other city facilities, such as recreation and cultural centers.
- Access to libraries by public transportation, including a transit overlay.
City staff also pledged to present multiple options that preserve an estimated $2.6 million in budget savings.
Those options include a revised regional model that would maintain branch locations while creating flagship libraries, as well as an alternative scenario that avoids branch closures by reducing hours or days across the system.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
The March briefing will also include preliminary information on a “proposed reimagining” of the Central Library, which was not affected by the initial closure proposal. The memo did not provide other details.
Assistant City Manager Liz Cedillo-Pereira wrote that library leadership remains available to meet with council members individually and described the process as the start of a longer conversation.
“We recognize that this is the beginning of an important conversation,” she wrote, “and we look forward to continued collaboration.”
María Ramos Pacheco is a reporter on the local government team. Before joining The News, María was a reporter at El Paso Matters and attended the University of Texas at El Paso. She is from Chihuahua, Mx, where her love for journalism was formed.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
