HomeMy WebLinkAbout(0004) IR 10326 - BOLD Library ClosureINFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
No. 10326
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council September 24, 2019
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SUBJECT: CLOSING OF THE BOLD LIBRARY
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The purpose of this IR is to inform the City Council of the upcoming permanent closure of the BOLD
library in Council District 8. The Butler Outreach Library Division (BOLD) opened in 1997 inside the
Butler public housing community. Although open to the entire city, BOLD is strategically located to serve
the residents of Butler.
As the residents of Butler are moving out and into housing across the city, the Fort Worth Public Library
has been in conversation with Fort Worth Housing Solutions for over a year to determine the right moment
to permanently close. A decision was made to stay open through summer, 2019 in order to bring the
Mayor's Summer Reading Challenge to residents. However, from July, 2018 to July, 2019 visits to the
library dropped by 97%. Now that school is back in session and with dwindling residential numbers, the
BOLD library will permanently close at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday November 2, 2019. The COOL library at
Cavile will close by the end of the calendar year, with a date to be determined.
The cost savings from the closure will be negligible. The city does not pay utilities to Fort Worth Housing
Solutions and the five computers and two phones will be repurposed to other library locations. The
$14,000.00 budget for books and other materials will be transferred to the Cambridge Court Library in Las
Vegas Trail, which is currently unfunded for material. Of the 2.5 FTE at BOLD, 2 FTE will be used to
form a new outreach division, which will deliver library service to areas of Fort Worth that do not have
libraries, as well as continued service to the Butler area community. The remaining .5 FTE will be used at
the Cambridge Court Library in Las Vegas Trail to assist with the high number of users.
If you have any questions concerning this information, please contact Manya Shorr, Library Director at 817-
392-7707 or manya.shorr@fortworthtexas.gov.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
FORT WORTH, TEXAS