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Agenda Item
3. Public Comment. Comment heard under this item will be limited to three minutes per person and may pertain to matters both on and off the Commission agenda. The Commission will also hear public comment during individual action items, with comment limited to three minutes per person. Comments are to be made to the Commission as a whole. Virtual Public Comment Eligible when facilities are available.
Public comment is welcomed during public comment periods and is limited to 3 minutes per person per public comment period. Unused time may not be allocated to other speakers. A speaker's viewpoint will not be restricted; however, reasonable restrictions may be imposed upon the time, place, and manner of speech. Irrelevant statements, unduly repetitious statements, and personal attacks that would objectively antagonize or incite others are examples of speech that may be reasonably limited. All comments are to be directed to the Commission as a whole.
The Board of County Commissioners carries out the business of Washoe County and its residents during its meetings. The presiding officer may order a person be removed if the person's conduct or statements disrupt the order or safety of the meeting. Warnings about disruptive conduct or comments may or may not be given prior to removal.
Furthermore, certain disruptions of a public meeting are criminal acts as defined under NRS 203.090 and/or NRS 203.119 which may result in prosecution in appropriate cases.
I'd like to join the other public commenters who are respectfully urging you to restore funding of Washoe County Libraries to their current level.
I'm both a resident of District 3 and a loyal WCLS employee of nearly 20 years. In that time, I've worked at all but three branches in our county library system. I can tell you from this firsthand experience that there are few uses of taxpayer money more sound or less controversial than investing in libraries. The free WiFi and internet access we offer bring the necessities of day-to-day life in the 21st century within reach for everyone. The after school programs hosted by libraries keep children engaged in their school work, fed, and off the streets. Our meeting rooms make free gathering spaces for large groups of people and all manner of events possible. And the books, films and music we circulate expand minds and transport us to fantastical new worlds. Declining to restore library funding would needlessly hamper every one of these things, and our community would be much worse off because of it.
We understand that your budget discussions next month will involve some difficult decisions. But thankfully, restoring WCLS funding to its current levels for the next two years isn't one of them. Thank you for your time and consideration.
I live in District 5 and am a regular user of the Northwest Reno library. I attended the last meeting to show my support to prioritize funding for our libraries. I will not be there for the December 10th meeting because I will be in the Downtown Reno Library with my son for the Family Story Time. On average, my family attends events at the library 3-4 times a month.
With the current deficit, this will lead to staff layoffs, cuts to weekend and evening hours, fewer library events, severe reduction in purchase of new books, e-Books & databases, and possible closure of some branches. I urge you to prioritize funding for our libraries, so we can continue to have outstanding library service for all Washoe County residents to enjoy.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Shelly Lac
My name is Sophie Jantz, and I recently moved to Washoe County. Within my first week here, my spouse and I used the local library to print necessary documents and register to vote. Libraries are vital resources for residents, offering access to technology, educational materials, and essential community services. Defunding libraries hurts our children’s education, widens the digital divide in our community, and limits opportunities for meaningful civic engagement.
Like many others, I believe WC-1 failed because of confusing ballot language, not a lack of community support for libraries. I urge the board to reinstate library funding. Libraries are the backbone of an informed and thriving community—please don’t let Washoe County fall behind.
Please fully fund the Washoe County libraries. I have been a resident of this county for over 8 years and throughout that time, the libraries have been an important source of support for my family and for my work as a public school teacher. When we first moved here, the library was a place of community where toddler playtimes and craft events helped us make friends. As a teacher, the county libraries have benefitted my classroom by providing engaging read alouds and a wealth of books at different reading levels to allow my students access to any grade level subject regardless of the student's reading ability. I regularly direct the families of my students to our county libraries as a way to support their children's education at home.
Please fully support our county libraries in the upcoming budget to ensure that they can continue to provide these important services to our community. Thank you.
For the record, Julie Ullman, Branch Manager at the South Valleys Library.
I have lived in Washoe County and worked for the library since the year 2000. I am here today on behalf of my patrons, my staff and my Northern Nevada communit,y to ask for your support for fully funding the Library department’s budget next fiscal year.
I have just a few statistics to share with you for the last fiscal year, 23-24:
At our branch alone, at South Valleys Library:
• 137,426 people came through our doors. 137,426 people visited the branch in person.
• There were over 315,000 checkouts, just from our branch.
• Over 9,000 new library cards were issued at our branch.
• 14,268 people used our meeting rooms, not including library events.
• 10,179 children and adults attended library events. Just at our branch.
Libraries are essential to Washoe County.
This past May I shared our branch report with the Library Board of Trustees. It included many patron comments. I shared that report with each of you Commissioners last week in an email. I want to highlight just three of these comments.
“I gave a young lady her first library card this morning, and she held it up triumphantly and said, ‘Now I'm rich!’”
“Libraries shaped the person I am today, and I would be nothing without them.”
“I just overheard a little girl leaving Story Time tell her mom that this is her favorite place, and she wants to have a sleepover here.”
Washoe County is a great place to live and the Library plays a great role in that.
I ask you on behalf of those 137,426 people that visited our branch in person during the last fiscal year, to please fully fund the Library department’s budget, just as you do for every Washoe County Department, so we can continue to make a difference in our community, one person at a time.
I am hoping that the county commissioners are making a plan to fully fund Washoe County Libraries in their upcoming budget. Our community -- from housebound seniors to preschoolers taking their first steps toward literacy -- needs WCLS to be fully funded, including a robust book budget, and open hours on evenings and weekends. It would be embarrassing for our community to be in the news as the county that defunded their libraries. Please make sure that this doesn't happen.
Commissioners, as a Reno resident, I urge you to designate the $4.5 million from the Expansion Tax to the Washoe County libraries, as has been done for the past 30 years.
Ballot measure WC-1 was misrepresented in voting guides as a new tax rather than as an existing one, which likely led to its narrow defeat. This error will lead to a devastating loss of vital services that the public libraries provide to County residents: Washoe librarians will be laid off, book AND technology budgets will be eliminated, and library branches will lose weekend and evening hours, meaning that residents who work Monday-Friday 9-5 jobs, such as myself, will no longer be able to visit the libraries.
The Washoe County libraries are one of the only places that residents can access educational materials and services, gather, create, and learn for free - they make our community a better place. Please maintain this critical public service. Thank you.
I am a college student and unable to comment in person due to finals. However, I would like to say that Washoe County Libraries are a huge part of the reason why I am able to attend college at all. As a child, access to books through the library system enabled me to read and develop my literacy skills. I still use and deeply value the library system as a source of knowledge and entertainment, and libraries provide many other wonderful services to our community, especially because they are a place for in-person connection in an increasingly digital and lonely world. I strongly urge the Board of Commissioners to maintain library funding at current levels so that today's generation of children can enjoy the same benefits I had growing up.
Commissioners, it is my earnest request that you continue the level of funding that our libraries have enjoyed for the past 3 decades. It is not broke, it doesn't need to be fixed. Libraries are one of the few community institutions that any and all can access and have a productive reason to be there. They are essential facets of the community. They are one of the few legacies that become more prestigious and reflect the value of the society that creates them. The public good, the gathering space, and the services that libraries provide aren't duplicated elsewhere.
Our future deserves libraries, we deserve libraries, and it is a nod to our tradition, past, and our foundations to continue the funding of our libraries as we have.
Again, I urge you to please consider keeping the library funding at the levels they have been in previous budget cycles.
I am going on the record today to ask the commission to continue the library's funding at its current pace for the next two years. Yes, WC-1 didn't pass, but a lot of that was due to the unclear language of the question and many people didn't understand what they were voting for. Given the public show of support for the libraries since, it seems like if the question was placed on the ballot again in 2026, there would be a different result. As a compromise, I encourage the commissioners to keep the Library System budget level for two years. Then we can try another ballot measure. The money for the library is still there in the general fund, and, arguably, there's no better use for it than the libraries. The libraries promote literacy in youth, free meals during school breaks, technology classes for Seniors, and countless other programs provided at no cost to those who attend them. As one of the last bastions of a shared town space, please keep libraries funded, so that they can continue to serve the public as they have for so many years.
I would like to go on the record as a supporter of public libraries in Washoe County and to encourage the commission to retain the current level of budgetary funding for the library next fiscal year. There is no indication that cuts to the county budget will be necessary or that the funds freed up by the failure of WC-1 last month are needed anywhere else more urgently. Removing those funds from the library's budget will only serve to reduce citizens' quality of life and result in a number of your constituents losing their jobs unnecessarily. As a resident of Reno since my childhood, I was a story time kid at the old Stead library, grew up to work my way through UNR shelving books at the Downtown Reno library, and turned my work into a career serving the informational and recreational needs of the community and all its citizens, from the most needy to the least, all races, genders, and ages were welcomed and served with respect and dedication, free of charge. Public libraries are the last vestige of a common public space for people to gather, learn, and freely engage in democracy, learning, and literature without cost. From the children attending story time to the senior citizens learning to use computers, from people writing their first resume to those who cannot afford internet access, from those who want to escape to a futuristic fantasy land or learn about the past, we citizens of Washoe County need a strong public library system. I strongly voice my support and encourage commissioners to retain the library's funding at current levels and do not jeopardize this institution that has served us for so long, so well. Thank you.
Esteemed County Commissioners,
I'd like to join the other public commenters who are respectfully urging you to restore funding of Washoe County Libraries to their current level.
I'm both a resident of District 3 and a loyal WCLS employee of nearly 20 years. In that time, I've worked at all but three branches in our county library system. I can tell you from this firsthand experience that there are few uses of taxpayer money more sound or less controversial than investing in libraries. The free WiFi and internet access we offer bring the necessities of day-to-day life in the 21st century within reach for everyone. The after school programs hosted by libraries keep children engaged in their school work, fed, and off the streets. Our meeting rooms make free gathering spaces for large groups of people and all manner of events possible. And the books, films and music we circulate expand minds and transport us to fantastical new worlds. Declining to restore library funding would needlessly hamper every one of these things, and our community would be much worse off because of it.
We understand that your budget discussions next month will involve some difficult decisions. But thankfully, restoring WCLS funding to its current levels for the next two years isn't one of them. Thank you for your time and consideration.
I live in District 5 and am a regular user of the Northwest Reno library. I attended the last meeting to show my support to prioritize funding for our libraries. I will not be there for the December 10th meeting because I will be in the Downtown Reno Library with my son for the Family Story Time. On average, my family attends events at the library 3-4 times a month.
With the current deficit, this will lead to staff layoffs, cuts to weekend and evening hours, fewer library events, severe reduction in purchase of new books, e-Books & databases, and possible closure of some branches. I urge you to prioritize funding for our libraries, so we can continue to have outstanding library service for all Washoe County residents to enjoy.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Shelly Lac
My name is Sophie Jantz, and I recently moved to Washoe County. Within my first week here, my spouse and I used the local library to print necessary documents and register to vote. Libraries are vital resources for residents, offering access to technology, educational materials, and essential community services. Defunding libraries hurts our children’s education, widens the digital divide in our community, and limits opportunities for meaningful civic engagement.
Like many others, I believe WC-1 failed because of confusing ballot language, not a lack of community support for libraries. I urge the board to reinstate library funding. Libraries are the backbone of an informed and thriving community—please don’t let Washoe County fall behind.
Please fully fund the Washoe County libraries. I have been a resident of this county for over 8 years and throughout that time, the libraries have been an important source of support for my family and for my work as a public school teacher. When we first moved here, the library was a place of community where toddler playtimes and craft events helped us make friends. As a teacher, the county libraries have benefitted my classroom by providing engaging read alouds and a wealth of books at different reading levels to allow my students access to any grade level subject regardless of the student's reading ability. I regularly direct the families of my students to our county libraries as a way to support their children's education at home.
Please fully support our county libraries in the upcoming budget to ensure that they can continue to provide these important services to our community. Thank you.
Good morning Commissioners.
For the record, Julie Ullman, Branch Manager at the South Valleys Library.
I have lived in Washoe County and worked for the library since the year 2000. I am here today on behalf of my patrons, my staff and my Northern Nevada communit,y to ask for your support for fully funding the Library department’s budget next fiscal year.
I have just a few statistics to share with you for the last fiscal year, 23-24:
At our branch alone, at South Valleys Library:
• 137,426 people came through our doors. 137,426 people visited the branch in person.
• There were over 315,000 checkouts, just from our branch.
• Over 9,000 new library cards were issued at our branch.
• 14,268 people used our meeting rooms, not including library events.
• 10,179 children and adults attended library events. Just at our branch.
Libraries are essential to Washoe County.
This past May I shared our branch report with the Library Board of Trustees. It included many patron comments. I shared that report with each of you Commissioners last week in an email. I want to highlight just three of these comments.
“I gave a young lady her first library card this morning, and she held it up triumphantly and said, ‘Now I'm rich!’”
“Libraries shaped the person I am today, and I would be nothing without them.”
“I just overheard a little girl leaving Story Time tell her mom that this is her favorite place, and she wants to have a sleepover here.”
Washoe County is a great place to live and the Library plays a great role in that.
I ask you on behalf of those 137,426 people that visited our branch in person during the last fiscal year, to please fully fund the Library department’s budget, just as you do for every Washoe County Department, so we can continue to make a difference in our community, one person at a time.
Thank you!
I am hoping that the county commissioners are making a plan to fully fund Washoe County Libraries in their upcoming budget. Our community -- from housebound seniors to preschoolers taking their first steps toward literacy -- needs WCLS to be fully funded, including a robust book budget, and open hours on evenings and weekends. It would be embarrassing for our community to be in the news as the county that defunded their libraries. Please make sure that this doesn't happen.
Commissioners, as a Reno resident, I urge you to designate the $4.5 million from the Expansion Tax to the Washoe County libraries, as has been done for the past 30 years.
Ballot measure WC-1 was misrepresented in voting guides as a new tax rather than as an existing one, which likely led to its narrow defeat. This error will lead to a devastating loss of vital services that the public libraries provide to County residents: Washoe librarians will be laid off, book AND technology budgets will be eliminated, and library branches will lose weekend and evening hours, meaning that residents who work Monday-Friday 9-5 jobs, such as myself, will no longer be able to visit the libraries.
The Washoe County libraries are one of the only places that residents can access educational materials and services, gather, create, and learn for free - they make our community a better place. Please maintain this critical public service. Thank you.
I am a college student and unable to comment in person due to finals. However, I would like to say that Washoe County Libraries are a huge part of the reason why I am able to attend college at all. As a child, access to books through the library system enabled me to read and develop my literacy skills. I still use and deeply value the library system as a source of knowledge and entertainment, and libraries provide many other wonderful services to our community, especially because they are a place for in-person connection in an increasingly digital and lonely world. I strongly urge the Board of Commissioners to maintain library funding at current levels so that today's generation of children can enjoy the same benefits I had growing up.
Commissioners, it is my earnest request that you continue the level of funding that our libraries have enjoyed for the past 3 decades. It is not broke, it doesn't need to be fixed. Libraries are one of the few community institutions that any and all can access and have a productive reason to be there. They are essential facets of the community. They are one of the few legacies that become more prestigious and reflect the value of the society that creates them. The public good, the gathering space, and the services that libraries provide aren't duplicated elsewhere.
Our future deserves libraries, we deserve libraries, and it is a nod to our tradition, past, and our foundations to continue the funding of our libraries as we have.
Again, I urge you to please consider keeping the library funding at the levels they have been in previous budget cycles.
I am going on the record today to ask the commission to continue the library's funding at its current pace for the next two years. Yes, WC-1 didn't pass, but a lot of that was due to the unclear language of the question and many people didn't understand what they were voting for. Given the public show of support for the libraries since, it seems like if the question was placed on the ballot again in 2026, there would be a different result. As a compromise, I encourage the commissioners to keep the Library System budget level for two years. Then we can try another ballot measure. The money for the library is still there in the general fund, and, arguably, there's no better use for it than the libraries. The libraries promote literacy in youth, free meals during school breaks, technology classes for Seniors, and countless other programs provided at no cost to those who attend them. As one of the last bastions of a shared town space, please keep libraries funded, so that they can continue to serve the public as they have for so many years.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I would like to go on the record as a supporter of public libraries in Washoe County and to encourage the commission to retain the current level of budgetary funding for the library next fiscal year. There is no indication that cuts to the county budget will be necessary or that the funds freed up by the failure of WC-1 last month are needed anywhere else more urgently. Removing those funds from the library's budget will only serve to reduce citizens' quality of life and result in a number of your constituents losing their jobs unnecessarily. As a resident of Reno since my childhood, I was a story time kid at the old Stead library, grew up to work my way through UNR shelving books at the Downtown Reno library, and turned my work into a career serving the informational and recreational needs of the community and all its citizens, from the most needy to the least, all races, genders, and ages were welcomed and served with respect and dedication, free of charge. Public libraries are the last vestige of a common public space for people to gather, learn, and freely engage in democracy, learning, and literature without cost. From the children attending story time to the senior citizens learning to use computers, from people writing their first resume to those who cannot afford internet access, from those who want to escape to a futuristic fantasy land or learn about the past, we citizens of Washoe County need a strong public library system. I strongly voice my support and encourage commissioners to retain the library's funding at current levels and do not jeopardize this institution that has served us for so long, so well. Thank you.