The Pima County Public Library is undergoing a period of change with a new director, expanded hours and continued efforts to rebuild its workforce.
This fall marks one year since Arizona Luminaria’s coverage of the library’s proposal to close or shrink several branches to address staff burnout and vacancies sparked renewed public attention on the future of the library system. Since then, the county has increased the library’s budget, added new positions and plans to expand hours at eight locations in the coming year — a step toward restoring pre-pandemic levels.
The library has a multi-faceted role in Tucson’ s community. It provides free COVID-19 tests and a cool place to stay amid the month of punishing summer heat; the library also provides personalized reading recommendations and curates specific reading opportunities like cookbook lists for vegetarians…