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Parker Krebs, 16, of North Las Vegas checks out the selection of books at Green Valley Library in Henderson on Tuesday, April 10, 2012.
By Tovin Lapan (contact) 
Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 | 4:59 p.m.
Now that voters have rejected the Henderson Library District’s tax initiative, plans to shutter two of the district’s six branches have begun.
The branch within the Sunset at Galleria mall will close Nov. 21, and the Malcolm Library in Anthem will close Nov. 30.
Combined, the two branches circulate about 200,000 items a year, said Thomas Fay, the district’s executive director. Some of the most popular materials will be redistributed to other libraries, while some will be put into storage at the Malcolm building, which the district owns.
Approximately 15 positions will be lost because of the closures. The tax initiative and potential fate of the two libraries were announced in April, and the staff at the two branches slated for closure had time to find new work outside the district or transfer into open positions at the district’s other four library branches. Fay said six employees remain without alternatives. Two of them are ready to retire from work, but the other four positions will be eliminated at the start of the new year, and those employees are looking for new jobs.
The district receives the majority of its roughly $7 million budget from property taxes. As property values in Henderson took a nosedive in the past four years, funding for the district dropped from its prerecession budget of nearly $10 million. The district projects its property tax revenue will continue to decline, along with property values, during the next two to three years.
The library district is independent from the city of Henderson, but has the same boundaries. The final tally showed just short of 55 percent of voters were against the tax initiative, which would have raised property taxes by 2 cents per $100 in assessed value ($14 per year for a home worth $200,000).
Nevadans rejected every ballot initiative that would have raised taxes on Election Day, including a Clark County School District tax for building maintenance and capital improvements. Fay said he felt like the library district did the best it could in explaining to the public the need for the tax increase, but Nevada’s cultural aversion to new taxes coupled with the sputtering economy were too much to overcome.
“I went into it saying it was a 50-50 proposition,” Fay said. “I knew it was very, very hard to try and get this through. I guess it’s depressing to some extent, but when you look at it I think we did all we could. We had great endorsements and great community support. There’s not much else we could do. I think we left it all on the field.”
Had the initiative been approved, the district estimated a revenue boost of approximately $1.5 million in the first year of collection, fiscal 2013-2014. The district wrote the initiative to emphasize funds would be used to maintain the current level of services, and was meant for boosts in employee salaries and benefits, but the tax initiative met the same fate as two previous proposals in 2001 and 2002 that would have raised taxes for library expansion.
A political action committee set up to support the tax initiative, Citizens for Henderson Libraries, raised $38,220 between May and November to distribute fliers, signs and information on the tax.
Imagine Communications and its creative director Alex Raffi, agreed to work pro bono on a publicity campaign in favor of the initiative. Raffi developed signage to promote the initiative and set up a Facebook page, which received 945 “likes,” to help engage the community.
Raffi said the defeat “hurt,” but the dialogue the proposal generated encouraged him. He found that many voters mistakingly believed the funding for the libraries was tied to the city of Henderson.
“I always knew it was an uphill battle,” Raffi said. “I knew we would have to educate people. … I think a lot of people don’t understand that it’s not part of the local government and it relies on community involvement to stay open.”
Raffi said some people he communicated with simply were not willing to approve a tax increase. Going forward, he would like to parlay the energy created by the tax campaign into programs that will help the library, such as fundraising campaigns and initiatives to boost library usage and participation.
Fay said the district’s two options for increasing revenue through an initiative were a bump in property taxes or sales tax.
“It’s one of those issues where people always want you to do it some other way,” Fay said. “It’s a false assumption when homeowne’s say they shouldn’t have to pay when the guy renting an apartment doesn’t pay. That’s false. An apartment dweller will pay property tax through rent, and no one should think the landlord will pay taxes for you.”
Fay said the other option, a request to add to the sales tax, was seen as a tougher sell since sales taxes in Southern Nevada already are relatively steep and an increase could be viewed as a hit to tourism and local businesses.
In terms of impact on library users, Fay said the Galleria Mall branch serves a lot of apartment complexes in the area.
“Malcolm is very much a neighborhood library,” Fay said. “It’s nestled into the bottom of the Anthem and Seven Hills area, and a high school, middle school and elementary school are all in walking distance. In that neighborhood a lot of people can walk to the library and now they’ll have to get in a car and drive. For those kids that can’t drive, they won’t be able to go without parents or someone to drive them.”
The district has reduced library hours several times since the 2008 recession, and the library board made the decision to start closing the libraries on Mondays this past summer. Fay said efficiencies and staff cut backs were exhausted before the district took the tax initiative to voters, and there are no more clear-cut areas from which to trim.
Those who use the Galleria or Malcolm Libraries and need to have a materials request transferred or have any questions about the closures should contact library staff, Fay said.
This will make a nice topic on the unofficial NDA website. The son of Fahrenheit 451 is not far off.
wow--2 cents--really pathetic---the library system is one of the few things i would give a little more money to, especially only 2 cents per $100. But i guess its time to cut back and tighten the belt everywhere---wish the county had the same system of voters decided each departments increases--i know a guy working in the correctional area making over 100K as a half a$$ed "correctional" guard---with unbelievable benefits. But the library system can't get 2 cents.
I am disappointed the library initiative didn't pass; I voted for it. I have been to neither library, but have used a couple of others extensively when I was younger. I live and also grew up in Henderson, and my first library was the one on Water Street and Pacific.
When Libraries decided to go into the business of free movies, free internet, freedom of speech on the taxpayer dime, as they ruined several private businesses, how can we continue to think of them as a library? Name me those that don't have access to some sort of internet! Close the libraries, no loss. We should not have as many as we do anyway. Thanks voters..We can use those facilities for the schools and the funds that have supported them thus far.
Good riddance. Let the leftists limit themselves with books in libraries and call themselves, "progressives."
I'll hope on the internet and find a million libraries.
Our Libertarian/Randistas hate libraries too. Actually, Ayn used them.
Don't blame the taxpayer, the libraries killed themselves off by operating like a bank or a school. They are closed when their "customers" needed them...
You want people to use your services? Want people to vote to keep you open? Than be there when they need you. Not when the school unions say to be...
I voted for the tax increase for library even though I have no clue why they have that library in the mall.
I think it was not a postive thing that they were promoting the fact that them mall library would be saved with this tax increase.
They should have had close the mall library a long time ago.
I was stunned to see the results of the vote. I never would have believed that a city as friendly as Henderson would vote down this modest request. The public library is part of an American tradition. I know that the information provided by reference librarians has been invaluable to people starting small businesses. Having access to branch libraries throughout Henderson has been a wonderful resource for my entire family. I appreciate the Henderson libraries. I participated in a computer skills workshop, mystery book discussions and art presentations. We have always felt welcome in the library's social space. Thank you Henderson libraries for all that you do. You make a positive contribution to our daily lives.
Only in NevaDUH...
Judging from the comments;
'Books; BAD!'
'Reading; too LIBERAL!'
'Education; Verboten!'
'Conservatives' here @ the Sun have spoken!
BOOKS & REFERENCE MATERIALS 'should only be available ONLINE, for those with a computer & internet connection!'! (And even then, I am sure they'd like to decide what's 'appropriate')
I do love to hit the library over here in Summerlin occasionally. They do a FABULOUS job. Nice facility.
Reference books to actually HOLD in your hands...thousands of CD'S, book-browsing...a nice way to pass a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Those supporting such a measure have been freed from its mandate and are now allowed to voluntarily contribute to such a cause in a manner which best meets their individual needs.
Responsible citizens don't place financial mandates upon others.
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Gmag, I am glad the library bill failed but unlike your knee-jerk reactionary and Neanderthal like approach I love to read on my Kindle and do tons of research on my tablet. Education isn't found in a building; it's found in the curiosity of the mind.
Libraries are for troglodytes and people who insist buggy whips are cutting edge technology.
I don't think dead tree media matters as much as you do.
I am no prude and have a libertarian streak a mile wide but the only victims of a library closing are poor people who surf Internet porn.
If libraries go back to being intellectual reservoirs WITHOUT free Internet, movies and music I'll rethink my joy.
The only library's should be joint with the high school libraries with long hours. The redundancy is ridiculous. Combine them and maybe I could support it.
I moved out of NY because of idiotic tax initiatives such as this one. In NY, if a tax increase initiative loses, which is RARE, they just resubmit it for twice the money in the next election until eventually enough drunken imbeciles approve it. Let's see if Nevada tries the same game. Next I think I will move out of this pathetic country entirely. Property taxes should be ENTIRELY ABOLISHED. Especially for those who have owned their homes for more than 20 years. Enough is ENOUGH. Furthermore, the public school system in Nevada is a FARCE. And who needs libraries in the digital age? And let's not forget, those goldbricking firefighters pulling down 200 grand a year for hanging out at the gym all day.
What happened with this vote is a tragedy. But what could you really expect? This isn't Portland, San Diego, Houston, Orlando, or any other place that places value in libraries and keeps them open. Las Vegas is the entertainment capital the WORLD ! For the retired, the bored, and the criminally insane. These people we know do not value libraries-we can expect that of them. However, Henderson is a community right? No, Henderson is the home of the mindless servants -- those who are too busy doing those unspeakable things every day to hump the American Dream and never getting it, because thinking and learning aren't the things that pay off. "It's not the books or education we need," they say. "Give us what we are entitled to--a smart phone, or similar device that is wireless and preferably allows us to hook up while doing research about where our ex is hanging out, while downloading the new awesome coupon/brew-stash/meme app."
So they sign contracts, and become upgrade addicts, and fall out of the legions of the living. In doing so they abandon the very institutions that could save them and their Ritalin sucking ADHD addled offspring from getting a leg up from the sorry lives they lead. The scenarios from here are all so typical--you know where they lead. Maybe they will they will move out of the family basement in later midlife, lose their retirement to unscrupulous free-market predators, die sucking air from lack of medical coverage, continue to dine alone at the country club while their family slips further and further away, check themselves into a for profit University where they will get a mindless and overpriced degree in the service industry and continue doing the same thing for less money, or facing with the reality of their dim future they will revert to Socialism in a desperate last ditch attempt to redefine themselves.
Whatever happens to them is anyone's guess but one thing is certain. They have created a hole in their community and in themselves they have started the process for something worse -- a complete disregard for and disgust for institutions of learning where knowledge is freely available. When and if they finally realize their error, it will be too late. And this is the real tragedy.
The negative comments on this article explain why Nevada is one of the most illiterate states in the country.