With plans for new branches across the city and a $31 million facelift of the main library, the Las Cruces City Council began a new chapter for the library system earlier this month.
The council on Oct. 21 unanimously approved a 20-year master plan that calls for a renovation and expansion of Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, at least three new branch locations, increased city funding for the libraries and more staff.
“The end result of the master plan will be a better educated Las Cruces population with higher earning potential, living an ever-improving quality of life,” said Brad Waters, owner of Godfrey’s Associates, Inc. of Dallas, Texas. This firm drafted the master plan, representing the next step in a decades-long effort to expand library services in Las Cruces as the city grows.
Growing services is something the community supports and is willing to pay for, Waters said. In a survey of 725 residents, Waters said 93 percent felt library services were “very important” to them. Just two respondents said library services were not important.
“Las Cruces costumers exhibited their overwhelming love for their libraries, and at the highest percentage we’ve seen over the last 20 years,” Waters said.
The same survey showed that about 57 percent favored a tax increase to pay for a new library. Another 27 percent said they could be in favor, depending on the details of an increase.
“The ‘depends’ response typically translates to ‘what’s in it for me?’ So, a good public information campaign for any bond initiative typically carries the day,” Waters said.
About 7 percent said they were not in favor of an increase.
That survey data is part of the mandate for expanded library services, starting with the 45-year-old Branigan.
According to the plan and a presentation, the effort’s first phase includes a $15.5 million facelift for the library. The construction would add a new entrance and an atrium lobby and remodel the interior floor design, expanding Branigan by 4,582 square feet.
Waters said the changes would showcase both library floors, make the library’s spaces easier to supervise and make them more flexible to future changes.
“The $15.5 million estimate is a total (completed) project cost stated in 2024 dollars. So, the sooner the project can be underway, the more the city saves in inflation,” Waters said.
The second phase of the proposed Branigan expansion included adding 15,000 square feet of working space, which, according to the plan, would cost an estimated $16.6 million in 2024.
Even with an expanded Branigan, Waters said the city would still be unable to meet the community's needs with just one library.
“Your network would still need an additional three locations to meet those 20-year needs,” Waters said.
The plan calls for three locations, two to serve the city’s northeastern sides and one in the city's interior. Waters estimated the cost of one branch to be about $21 million.
Funding all this will be no simple task.
The master plan suggests four potential funding sources, including state money, a tax increase or series of general obligation bonds, a library foundation that collected large donations for capital projects and creating mixed-use facilities that combined libraries with housing projects or commercial buildings.
