Over 100 community members filled the Colorado Springs City Council chambers and spilled out onto the steps of City Hall on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to save the Rockrimmon Library.
During an Oct. 16 meeting, the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to not renew Rockrimmon’s lease after Nov. 30, citing a $1.2 million maintenance backlog, Rockrimmon’s proximity to other library locations, and the expense of Rockrimmon’s lease. Community members, organized by Karla Powers and Judy Darcy and including Colorado Springs City Councilor Dave Donelson, held a meeting Oct. 26 to come up with strategies to save the library. During an Oct. 29 budget meeting, Donelson attempted to convince the Colorado Springs City Council to approve $200,000 to PPLD to cover Rockrimmon’s lease, but the rest of council voted against his request.
On Nov. 8, the PPLD Board of Trustees published a letter to Rockrimmon community members. “As the decision not to renew the lease is final, thoughtful consideration has already been given to other ways we can service the community such as possibly adding a stop to the PPLD Mobile Library Services’ schedule or placing book drops and/or kiosks throughout Rockrimmon,” they wrote. “Additionally, our librarians at other locations are eager to meet and help each of you.”During the Nov. 12 Colorado Springs City Council meeting, residents urged Council to take action. Ken Pfeil, the principal of Trailblazer Elementary school in Colorado Springs School District 11, noted the benefit of neighborhood libraries. “We do have a great library at our school, but that’s no substitute for a public library,” he said. “Having a library to go to has a lot of benefits, and one of the benefits for us is our literacy rates. We know literacy rates are a challenge and we are struggling to raise those up and I wonder what kind of message we send to our kids if we’re closing libraries and closing down centers of literacy. Rockrimmon Library is a direct link to [Academy School District] 20.”
Chris Johnson, a CFO for an unnamed local business, reviewed the PPLD budget and raised questions about the PPLD Board of Trustees’ justification for closing the Rockrimmon branch, particularly their argument that owning buildings, such as the Penrose Library downtown, is better than leasing.
“What are they going to do? Flip 21c if the market gets hot?” said Johnson. “We see significant operating surplus … why wasn’t any of this deferred maintenance handled while large operating surpluses existed in much of the last decade? … We’re talking about a little more than a quarter million dollars in savings. Closing this library doesn’t do the job, but it deprives our community. The PPLD’s conclusions simply do not support their own data.”
Eilex Rodriguez, a PPLD staff organizer for the Pikes Peak Library Workers United (PPLW), also questions the financial justifications. “Since we found out in the last board meeting that the owner of the Rockrimmon Library was willing to lower [the lease] and because of other negotiations that have happened, I don’t see that closing the Rockrimmon Library would have saved any finances,” they told the Bulletin on the steps of City Hall. “The biggest financial hurdle is not getting a mill levy passed and that was just the failure of the board for not pushing that forward. We do have financial struggles, but it’s not necessary to close a branch because of that.”
Powers, during her comment to City Council, noted that their group had already received $30,000 in pledges from community members to go towards the Rockrimmon Library.
“There are a lot of ways that we can find a path to say that we can’t do anything,” said Donelson. “What I have asked my colleagues up here to do is find a path to say, ‘We can do something.’ One thing we could have done today is ask the CEO and the Chairman of the Board to come at our work session and answer – at a polite session – some questions, but this council didn’t want to do that, because we didn’t have oversight, as our attorney has pointed out, we do appoint them and we can remove them. The other thing I’ve asked is for us to swoop in and save the day, but it’s really very practical. If their reason for closing it – the board of trustees – is a monetary reason, ‘We can’t afford it.’ The city, one time, could cover that expense. Two hundred thousand dollars is what I recommend, but for $180,000 we could cover it with the donations that the people in this room and others have put forward. If we want to find a reason we can’t do anything, we’ll be able to do that. That’s what we’ve done so far. If we want to find a way to help, and to find a solution, as [Pfeil] was talking about, find a compromise position, we can do that, but we have to want to do it and we have to care enough to do it.”
We do have financial struggles, but it’s not necessary to close a branch. – Eilex Rodriguez
Councilor David Leinweber asked for clarification on removing PPLD Board of Trustees members, who are appointed by Colorado Springs City Council and the El Paso County Board of Commissioners. According to the representative from the City Attorney’s office, PPLD Board members can be removed for cause, such as conflicts of interest or inadequate performance. Donelson suggested that PPLD Board of Trustees member Aaron Salt’s position on the ASD20 Board of Education, which also received funds through mill levy tax measures, might be considered a conflict of interest, and that the failure to fund a neighborhood library certainly was.
“One of the criteria that the attorney provided for removal was inadequate performance, and if they’re provided with $24 million and can’t find $250,000 to keep a neighborhood library open when there’s this kind of support for it, and even people pledging their own money to help out, and the gentleman who owns the strip mall cutting his rates and doing a one-year lease, I’d say that’s not very good performance,” said Donelson. “I’ve asked it before of my colleagues, I’ll ask it again, to have the CEO and Chair come here because it shouldn’t be up to every one of you to figure out how to solve this problem. You elect us for a reason. We have two liaisons to the library for a reason. They should lead the fight on this. They should protect you from this decision, and it’s not a good decision. It’s been pointed out in multiple different ways.”
Councilor Nancy Henjum, one of the City Council liaisons to PPLD, commended community members but noted that removal of PPLD board members could be a difficult task. “We are working with meeting with the county commission liaison to discuss the situation with the board,” she said. “I can’t make any promises about what that’s going to mean. I can’t tell you we’re going to summarily dismiss anybody. First of all, it’s really important that you know, it takes the majority of City Council and County Commissioners to approve and remove board of trustee members.”
Councilor Yolanda Avila noted that she didn’t want to “see heads roll” due to the controversy over the Rockrimmon closure, while Councilor Michelle Talarico expressed frustration with the PPLD board’s lack of communication with City Council.
“I’m not okay that the chair of the Board of Trustees won’t call your council representative back,” said Talarico. “That is offensive to me. I will support in any way that I humanly can as a councilmember, as a person, keeping this library open … It is preposterous to me that they would be in the business of closing libraries and not opening them or expanding them. We can do better than this.”
City Council President Randy Helms urged community members to repeat their public comment presentation to the El Paso County Board of Commissioners during their Nov. 19 meeting at 9 a.m. at Centennial Hall (200 S. Cascade Ave., Suite 100).
Henjum noted that PPLD Board of Trustees Chair Dora Gonzales has asked that community members email concerns to the board before Nov. 18. The PPLD’s next Board of Trustees meeting is at 5 p.m. on Nov. 20 in the Community Room of East Library (5550 N. Union Blvd.).
Rodriguez said that PPLW is also holding a community event at 3 p.m. on Nov. 16 at the IBEW Hall (2150 Naegele Rd.).
“Our union is going to have a ‘State of the Library’ on Nov. 16,” said Rodriguez. “This is just a program that we’re putting out to have community conversation as well as present the staff side of things as well. We’re also having a letter writing campaign so that people can write to their City Council and County Commissioners about their concerns.”
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article stated that Trailblazer Elementary was in Academy School District 20, but it is actually a part of Colorado Springs School District 11. We apologize for the error.
