Misinformation shrouded plans to build a modern library in Las Vegas’ Historic Westside before a Tuesday community forum on the project even began. 

A dozen representatives from the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, an architecture firm and a marketing firm unveiled a plan to move the existing West Las Vegas Library about half a mile away from its current location to Martin Luther King Boulevard. The new campus would cover 5.25 acres and more than double the square footage to between 35,000 and 38,000 square feet. The existing library would remain open during construction.

But before the meeting, many Westside residents and other Las Vegans had heard something else —  that the library would be removed completely from the neighborhood. That threat drove some of the roughly 50 people from across the valley that day to attend the first of three meetings on the plan. 

Ward 5 Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear and other officials addressed the misinformation surrounding the proposal and emphasized that this was the first of several meetings to collect community feedback. 

“I hope we all walk away with an open mind of where we could and can go,” said Crear, who represents the area. “And if you don't hear it from myself, you don’t hear it from the people who are here, then don’t believe it. I don’t know why people would want to just go around and just put stuff out there that’s not true and get people riled up.”

Kelvin Watson, executive director of the library district, referenced the overflowing crowd to show that the library was already “busting out at the seams.”

The West Las Vegas Library originally opened on D Street in 1973 before moving to its current location on Lake Mead Boulevard in 1989, a change several attendees noted they lived through as well.

Today, the library is cramped. The building is stuffy with little natural light. The technology is old and limited.

Library administrators said they want to give the Westside a “21st century library” with expanded services that can’t fit in the existing 16,000-square-foot building. Such services could include dedicated spaces for studying and adult learning programs, a business incubator to help local startups and a makerspace with tools to develop skills in science, technology, engineering, the arts and math. 

Several officials and attendees referenced the East Las Vegas Library that opened in 2019 — and is considered a jewel of the heavily Hispanic neighborhood — as an example of what they’re looking to bring to the community.

“We that live here in Historic West Las Vegas deserve the same amenities that the rest of the valley enjoys,” said William McCurdy Sr., a Westside resident since 1952 who participated in the creation of the East Las Vegas Library.

Out of all the libraries in the district, the West Las Vegas Library serves the population with highest community needs, according to research from the library district. The area’s  median income is less than half of the city overall. 

The library also needs the most renovations out of all the library district’s facilities, said John Vino, the district’s general services director.

The project comes during what some see as a new chapter for the Westside, the historically Black neighborhood that has weathered decades of disinvestment since its prime in the 1950s. The City of Las Vegas’s HUNDRED (Historic Urban Neighborhood Redevelopment) Plan aims to redevelop the neighborhood, including replacing the Marble Manor public housing complex and bringing businesses to the area. 

But some Westside residents aren’t confident that what are supposed to be community-led plans will incorporate Westside voices. 

“I feel like it’s already a done deal,” said Walter Jones, 58, noting that an architecture firm has already been decided. “I think it's a disservice to our community that we're never involved. We're not involved on anything that ends up landing in 89106.”

‘Outdated’ and ‘overdue’

Jackie Stevenson, 44, said he came to the meeting from neighboring North Las Vegas because he was told the district was considering moving the library out of the community. He was relieved when he learned that wasn’t true. He said the library is “outdated” and that the new one is “overdue.” 

Many people at the meeting shared that sentiment. When one man commented that it “took too long” for a new library to be proposed for the Historic Westside, Crear defended the timeline. 

“This is the right time. God’s time is absolute. So this is when we're supposed to be here,” the councilman said. 

Watson, the library system’s executive director, said he didn’t want to come to the community without enough information about the proposal.

Several attendees had worries about the new location. The current library has schools just a short walk away on three of its sides. Even though the proposed location would only slightly increase that walk, several people expressed concerns about kids crossing the busy Martin Luther King Boulevard. 

McCurdy suggested that the district construct a walkway above the boulevard that connects the new library to the existing location, which is part of a broader educational area that includes the West Las Vegas Arts Center and a performing arts theater. 

Officials said the library has commissioned a traffic study for the proposed site.

Lester Johnson, 61, has lived next to the library since he was 6 years old, and said he doesn’t want the district to move the library where he learned how to use a computer. He would prefer the building receive a remodel — taking land from the neighboring park if needed — so students can keep the easy, safe access. 

Who calls the shots?

Several attendees questioned how the library would fit into the larger redevelopment of the Westside because the city plans to purchase the existing building if the library moves. Crear said the city has not decided what it would do with the facility.

“The city has been promising and promising and now they come in today and say to me, we don't know what the hell we're gonna do with this place,” said Al Gourrier, president of Samuel L. Smith Educational Foundation, which is named after a former Westside bookstore owner. “We will not allow the City of Las Vegas mentality of blowing up and moving out. We must make an effort to sustain this facility and this center as our place for our future.” 

Crear emphasized that the city and the library district wouldn’t hurt the community — his own community. 

“Why would I want to do something that is going to be detrimental to my community?” he asked.  “Take off the city councilman hat, I mean, I went to school at Matt Kelly [Elementary School] right next door.” 

Westside residents who spoke with The Nevada Independent were skeptical that the project would involve the community. 

Johnson said he didn’t attend the meeting because of work, but he sees the meetings as just a formality. He said he attended county and city council meetings for eight years, but saw no progress for his community. Now, he’s burnt out. 

“I have fought for this community for a long time,” Johnson said. “I don't give up but sometimes you just get tired of the same old BS.”

Jones, another Westside resident, said the outreach for the project was not effective in reaching the community. He said officials need to meet residents where they’re at — going door to door and to community centers. 

“The same way you go out and solicit them for a vote, should be the same when you go out and solicit them when something’s going on in the neighborhood,” he said. 

There is also debate about who should have a say in the decisions — lifelong residents, or a broader community.

Johnson said he appreciates people across the city weighing in on the library plans and trying to improve the neighborhood, but ultimately, people who drive home to Summerlin, for example, won’t experience the changes the same as those who call the Westside home. 

“They neighborhood don't look like ours,” he said. “[They] don’t know what’s going on over here.”

Gayle “Cerina” Tolbert, 68, and Renee Edwards, 73, both live in Summerlin, but have been coming to the Westside area for years to rehearse and perform for the Las Vegas FanciDancers. On top of their frequent visits, both said they felt connected to the community because it's the center of Las Vegas’ Black history and culture. 

“I know that we got beautiful facilities over there [in Summerlin], but being African American, of course, I'm interested in the community that represents more of my culture,” Tolbert said. “We don't want anything to happen to this community.”

The next project meeting will be on Monday, March 21, at the West Las Vegas Library theater from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.