Aurora’s plan to close two library branches this fall will create a neighborhood void for loyal patrons

Aurora s Chambers Plaza Library reopened less than three years ago to great fanfare after a decade-plus closure But now the modest branch at the edge of a strip mall on East Colfax Avenue will close again this time for good It is one of two branches set to go dark in the city at the end of October as the Aurora General Library shrinks its presence from seven to five branches in an effort to consolidate services across the city of to the locations where they are used majority The other one targeted to close is the Iliff Square Library at South Peoria Street and East Iliff Avenue While the twin closures will coincide with an expansion of the Martin Luther King Jr branch a scarce miles down Colfax from the Chambers Plaza Library it s cold comfort for those who live in and around Aurora s Altura neighborhood I love this library Debbie Cochran revealed as she got ready to enter the Chambers Plaza branch on a latest morning Cochran doesn t own a computer She uses the library s bank of desktop machines to read and send emails I have access to their computers she stated It s very convenient Ginger White Brunetti the director of the Aurora Library and Cultural Services Department characterized the branch closures scheduled for Oct as a strategic business decision Ending the leases on both the Chambers Plaza and Iliff Square buildings will save the city a year The expansion of the MLK branch which is being funded by a million federal grant will double the size of the library to square feet by activating its second floor White Brunetti announced That means more assessment and meeting rooms new equipment and maker spaces where patrons can learn new skills like using a D printer or a sewing machine White Brunetti revealed the five staff members at Chambers Plaza and Iliff Square will be transferred to MLK which is scheduled to open in its new upgraded configuration on Nov We thought it was better to put our seasoned staff at MLK which is expanding to optimize the support we have she declared And those two branches don t have the same number of visits as our other branches According to library statistics Chambers Plaza saw visits and Iliff Square had the two least-patronized branches in the system Hoffman Heights Library just southwest of the Anschutz Anatomical Campus was third from the bottom with nearly visits last year Aurora Masses Library s two majority of popular locations were Tallyn s Reach Library in southeast Aurora with visits and the Central Library near the city s municipal headquarters on East Alameda Avenue with visits Checkouts of physical materials across the system have declined over the last three years from in to in to last year Overall checkout volume remains well below its pre-pandemic level of items in On the electronic side e-checkouts have fluctuated in the last six years but have generally gone up from in peaking in at Aurora City Councilman Curtis Gardner expressed disappointment at the news which the city informed earlier this month I think libraries are a core arrangement of city regime and they are just as relevant in the current era as they were years ago he declared While this decision makes sense from a visitor standpoint it s still disappointing I hope my colleagues will prioritize funding for our libraries in the future to ensure we have a library system on par with a city of our size Neighboring Denver with slightly less than twice the population of Aurora has library branches The Chambers Plaza Library an Aurora Inhabitants Library branch on Friday Aug Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post Related Articles Rising popularity cost of e-books forces various Colorado libraries to limit access Denver Citizens Library apologizes for removal of Black history displays at Blair-Caldwell library The end comes for four Aurora libraries The Aurora Community Library will attempt to serve the neighborhoods it is leaving with more visits from the Bookmobile to parks and recreation centers where patrons can check out and return items The library system will also offer online support and transit options to full-service libraries in the area That s not the same as having a brick-and-mortar library White Brunetti conceded Closing two branches is not the direction we requested to go in This autumn s consolidation isn t the first time Aurora has had to shutter branches In the system closed four of its seven branches during the Great Recession casualties of the slumping economic system and a failed property-tax hike that would have kept them open Over the next decade and a half they were all resuscitated preponderance in recent days with the grand reopening of Chambers Plaza Library in Asantai Thornton announced she will be sad to see the Chambers Plaza branch close in two months She lives just a couple blocks away from the library and visits it several times a month It s not like there are a lot of places where people can gather Thornton revealed as she eyed Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon and Love Somebody by Rachel Roasek as prospective late summer reads It s a way where I can escape It s reliably so chill it s quiet Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter