Closing Libraries

Ballot measure 4A, which would have staved off closing 4 Aurora libraries, failed 54 to 46 percent last month. The measure, a property-tax hike, would have generated $12.5 million annually and cost the owner of a home valued at $200,000 an extra $5.69 a month. The wording of the measure also said the amount could be increased in future years if needed.


The Aurora City council has already approved the 2010 budget, and with the failure of 4A the closure of the Mission Viejo, Iliff Square, Hoffman Heights and Chambers Plaza libraries is going to come at the beginning of 2010. The city simply doesn’t have enough money to keep them open. The Central, Martin Luther King Jr. and Tallyn's Reach libraries will remain open, however.

Not everyone is sad about the closings, however. A spokesman for the Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government (CRAG) organization said that the failure of the ballot issue was about more than libraries.

“This is not a referendum on libraries. The citizens of Aurora don't want to be poor simply because the City Council is ignorant in terms of economics. If the city tries to raise taxes, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers is going to be there to stop them,” Greg Golyansky, the spokesman for CRAG, said. “We see this as blackmail.”

“I knew it would be a tough election year,” Karen Middleton, the Save Aurora Libraries chairwoman, said. “We gave it everything we had, and voters had a choice.”

Middleton said she was disappointed, but said it was an important issue to put before the voters. Supporters of Aurora libraries gathered at the Central Library, where hope turned into the stark realization that more than half of the city's libraries will close at the end of the year.

The decision to close the libraries breaks the hearts and routines of many, especially those who often visit the Mission Viejo library, near Hampden and Chambers.

“My heart is broken,” Jane Kriner said. She and her son visit the library every week.

“Sometimes I walk over here with my dog. It's always crowded. Computers are always full. It's always full in here and you see people with their kids. That's just a tradition of kids being able to come to the library,” said Cathy Sanderson; another Aurora Citizen.

Aside from keeping the libraries slated for closure open, the extra tax money would have allowed 154 library hours per week to be restored. Databases would have been added and more books purchased, in addition to more offerings of English-language and computer classes to the libraries.

“I think it's a really difficult time. I think it's reflective of the difficult economic circumstances everybody is going through as well as the city,” a city of Aurora budget officer, Jason Batchelor said.

Some Aurora citizens are even willing to pay out of pocket to keep the libraries open—but that’s just not an option. "Under state laws in order to meet the definition of a public library, you can't charge for fees for those services," Batchelor said.

In addition to the closings, 40 full time and part time jobs will be cut.

Councilwoman Renie Peterson said she thought the ballot issue’s failure had much to do with the way that ballot diction.

“I believe that part of it was the wording,” Peterson said. “It should have stated clearly that this funding will be held in a separate fund other than the general fund to be used specifically for libraries — library maintenance, library restock, library facilities. I think that was a mistake.”

-Jake Schmied