Palm Desert could have its own library by July; council OKs split from Riverside County

Tom Coulter, Palm Springs Desert Sun
Updated ·4 min read
The exterior of the Palm Desert branch library as seen in June 2023.
The exterior of the Palm Desert branch library as seen in June 2023.

Palm Desert has taken another step toward withdrawing from the Riverside County Library System and starting to run its own city library in mid-2024.

The city council unanimously agreed Thursday to notify county and state officials of the city’s plan. As early as July 2024, Palm Desert will join Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage as the only Coachella Valley cities with standalone library systems.

The council first endorsed the move in June, with council members saying it will free up extra money for library services and could lead to new city-owned branches.

More: Palm Desert plans to build its own new library and split from Riverside County system

Located on the eastern side of the College of the Desert campus, Palm Desert’s library is one of eight county-run branches in the Coachella Valley. The current library building was built in the 1990s under a cooperative agreement between the city, the county and the college.

Council OKs $1.3 million for initial library budget

Palm Desert’s first library opened as part of the county system in 1962 — 11 years before the city incorporated — and was located at what’s now the Portola Community Center. In 1993, the city entered into an agreement with the county and College of the Desert to build a new library on its campus, which opened a few years later.

The Palm Desert branch and College of the Desert libraries are seen from above their parking lots in June 2023.
The Palm Desert branch and College of the Desert libraries are seen from above their parking lots in June 2023.

Several of the library’s “enhanced services” — such as extra staffing, longer hours and more reference materials and videos — ended in 2013, the year after a state law passed getting rid of local redevelopment agencies, according to a staff report from a council study session. That change required the city to remit $10 million in redevelopment funds to the county.

The county had agreed to let the city use $4 million of that to buy out the rest of the library building from COD. But the college plans to continue operating its library, so the city will instead be able to spend the $4 million on a new library of its own, Assistant City Manager Chris Escobedo wrote in a June report to the council.

Withdrawing from the county system would also free up more money for Palm Desert’s library operations, according to city officials.

Under the current setup, the city effectively loses money by having a county library. The county spends approximately $1.5 million each year on the Palm Desert branch. But by withdrawing from the county system, the city would get back $2.6 million a year that now goes to the county's library fund.

While those additional funds will come to the city starting in July 2024, the council voted last week to appropriate roughly $1.32 million as an initial library budget for the current fiscal year. The preliminary money will come from the city’s general fund reserves.

The city also recently hired a director of library services to assist Palm Desert officials with getting ready to operate the municipal library next summer.

What's next?

Several steps remain in the process for the city to take over the library in July 2024, and city officials have already started negotiating the terms of withdrawal with Riverside County staff. Those discussions include how the city will assume the county's lease for the building and finalizing the exact amount that will now go to the city instead of the county library fund.

In coming weeks, the city also must negotiate a short-term lease with College of the Desert and develop a plan for the library’s staffing and services that includes community input. Palm Desert officials have not said whether they'll have to buy all-new books and other materials for the library or will get any from the county collection.

Shelves of books are seen in the Palm Desert branch library in June 2023.
Shelves of books are seen in the Palm Desert branch library in June 2023.

The city’s library taskforce has subcommittees that are reviewing potential sites for a future city-owned library, and the group was involved in recruiting the city’s new director of library services, according to a report last week from Escobedo, the assistant city manager.

The council approved the withdrawal resolution Thursday with little discussion, and no residents spoke during the public hearing.

“This is a momentous step, and an immense amount of work has gone into bringing it before us,” Mayor Kathleen Kelly said before the vote, thanking the library taskforce and city staff for their work.

Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert could have its own library by July; council approves split