On Nov. 5, 2016, the Camp Verde Community Library opened its new building, after the long and expensive process that led to its construction. This Monday, Nov. 5, the library celebrated two years as not just a home for books and information, but as an intrinsic center of the Camp Verde community.
“Two years. The time has gone by so rapidly,” Camp Verde Mayor Charlie German said. “I’m just absolutely amazed at how much goes on in that library every day that it’s open.”
Library staff and town officials tout the library, which required years of hard work from the community and its government, as one of the town’s recent success stories.
“To many in Camp Verde, the library is the heart of the community, their lifeline to the information they seek and, their connection to others around them,” Library Director Kathy Hellman wrote in an email. “Connections to information. Connections through access. Connections to ideas and knowledge. Connections through experiences. Connections to each other.”
Hellman sees her role as library director as helping employees provide better customer service to the community.
She has made an effort to increase ethnic and generational diversity and hire at gender parity in order to “reflect the future of the profession” and “move from the stereotypical image of a staff dominated by old, white women.”
“I can say that, because I am an old white woman,” Hellman joked.
One of those recent hires is Zack Garcia, who took over as library specialist for Teen Services in early 2017. Garcia has worked to make the library a meeting place for Camp Verde’s teenagers, hosting game nights every Thursday.
He’s helped in the founding of the Youth Advisory Council, a group for local teens to get involved in town policies.
In September, the YAC attended the League of Arizona Cities & Towns conference, where they were able to see what other youth councils across the state were doing.
“We are a community library but more than that our building really functions as a community center,” Garcia said of the library.
“It’s more than just a house of books. There’s never nobody here. There’s always people upstairs downstairs, using the facility. And that’s what we want.”
Most weeks, the library hosts Music in the Stacks with a wide range of local artists. The library is also a frequent home to lectures, story times, classes, and workshops from town government and other nearby organizations.
Over the course of the 2018 elections, the library has hosted two political debates along with the League of Women Voters, one for Camp Verde Town Council and another for Camp Verde mayor. According to Hellman, the library’s attendance is up 25 percent since it moved into the new building.
“It gives a centralized place where there’s a number of activities that can go on, and you can come in and experience one part of the library and still be there and experience another part of the library — check out books or videos or work on the computers or whatever,” German said. “It’s kind of a one-stop place you can just sit and talk with other people, or just go ahead and relax and read.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
