Fort Worth neighborhood wants new library, says city’s replacement is a ‘joke and a farce’

Inside the La Gran Plaza shopping mall in south Fort Worth, past the animatronic dinosaurs, Western clothing shops and kiosks selling everything from watches to barking stuffed animals, is La Gran Biblioteca, a Fort Worth public library branch.

The location opened in February 2022 as a replacement for the Seminary South branch just north of the mall. That location, at 501 E. Bolt St., was renovated to house a portion of the city’s history and genealogical archives.

The switch was part the library system’s strategy to increase its vitality by moving services outside traditional brick and mortar locations.

La Gran Biblioteca is the first Fort Worth library built in a retail setting. It has an open floor plan with books, DVDs and video games lining the walls. Most of the materials are children’s books with roughly a third of those in Spanish.

Tables and chairs are easily movable to transform the space for programs like civics classes, English classes, and bilingual story time. The increased foot traffic from the mall has increased participation in those programs, according to the library.

But some residents say the new location doesn’t meet the community’s needs and are calling on the city of Fort Worth to build a new branch.

“It’s not a library,” said Joe Guerrero, a longtime Worth Heights resident and president of the neighborhood association. There aren’t enough books, there’s not enough space, and it doesn’t provide a safe and quiet location for children to do research and homework after school, he said.

La Gran Biblioteca is roughly 40% of the size of the old Seminary South library.

Guerrero and others have also been critical of the city for not doing enough to communicate with the Worth Heights neighborhood before shifting the Seminary South library to La Gran Plaza.

Guerrero called the move a “slap in the face” to the predominantly Hispanic south Fort Worth community.

What is a library?

The Fort Worth public library is more than just a place to read books, said library spokesperson Theresa Davis in an email to the Star-Telegram.

“We provide all residents with a welcoming community gathering space that provides access to programs, services, and materials that support life-long learning, self-discovery, shared experiences, and personal growth,” she said.

Davis acknowledged the perception of libraries being quiet academic places with a librarian ready to shush the first noisy patron, however, she noted Fort Worth’s public libraries can be much more lively places.

“On any given day you could have residents checking out books, or conducting meetings while another patron uses a 3D printer; all during a story time with 40 participants while other patrons work at computer stations or puzzles,” she said.

It’s fine to have events, but there should be a space where you can read, write and study, said Vicki Bargas, another longtime Worth Heights resident and vice president of the neighborhood association.

The old Seminary South library was a valuable community resource that was taken away, Bargas told the City Council at the Aug. 15 public comment meeting.

“That is what we want back,” she said at the meeting.

What could they get?

Most of the new city libraries being built are outside Loop 820.

The Vivian J. Lincoln library at 8829 McCart Ave. opened in July to better serve people in the rapidly growing areas around the Chisholm Trail Parkway.

Voters also approved spending $12.2 million on a new library in far north Fort Worth on Avondale-Haslet Road, and the city is proposing setting aside funds in 2024 budget for a location near White Settlement Road and West Loop 820

Bargas and others are calling on the city for similar treatment for a new location in their neighborhood.

“La Gran Biblioteca just doesn’t cut it. It’s a joke. It’s a farce,” she told the City Council.

Fort Worth city council member Jeanette Martinez, whose district includes Worth Heights, supports efforts to build a new standalone library.

She helped broker a meeting between the Worth Heights community and the city’s library staff in September.

“South side needs a safe accessible library where children and adults can go to read books, use computers, have access to WiFi and participate in educational programs,” Martinez said in a text.

There are no plans to set aside money in the 2024 budget for a new Worth Heights library.

The next bond election where it could get funding is in 2026.