It was quite the scene at the downtown library this morning before its last 2024 Monday 10 a.m. opening, as a group of counter protesters gathered in front of the Center Street location, while ten or so anti-library protesters could be heard saying words such as “socialism,” “communism,” “virtue signaling,” and “garbage.”
One man held up a sign indicating “Fire Dir Jeff Scott Now,” referring to the Director of the Washoe County Library System. The other side of his sign said “Porn in Library?”
Anti-library advocates have spoken out against drag queen story hours previously held at different local libraries, before these were scrapped due to safety reasons, as well as the availability of certain books.
One library staff with a nervous smile handed out library safety policies and another mingled with the protesters. One counter protester dressed in black read parts of the Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. At his feet, he placed a chalkboard sign which read “Book Banners Aren’t on the Right Side of History.”
Other counter-protesters, some of them dressed colorfully, some with pro library signs, some playing bad music, mingled near the entrance, serving each other hot drinks and greeting each other with smiles as more arrived, noting they had the larger group.
A third group, consisting of unhoused individuals pushing carts full of their belonging, were being told to sit outside the library as it wasn’t open yet. An Allied Universal security guard working for the library aggressively got into our face with threatening language, after we had gone around the sidewalk filming, saying we weren’t allowed to do so, even though it was on a public sidewalk.
After being told about this, a library staff said it was because we didn’t have visible journalistic accreditation, which is not needed to film in public. She then said his conduct was understandable as he was “on edge.”
The early morning commotion comes as pro-library proponents are trying to get Washoe County commissioners to boost the library’s budget after a majority of voters eliminated having two cents of every $100 of assessed property value going directly to the library, as had been the case since a narrow vote had established this funding source thirty years ago.
A petition to “Preserve Funding for Washoe County Libraries” has since been circulated, saying the ballot question had “misleading wording,” while there has been renewed scrutiny on the library’s budgeting. The property taxes going to the library previously added about $4.5 million to its budget per year, for a previous total of about $17 million.
“In this budget is 23 library staff, $1.4 million in books (the entirety of our book budget), and $200,000 of our technology budget. This loss will result in a reduction of public services,” Scott indicated in a statement available on the Washoe County Libraries website, concerning the looming loss of $4.5 million if the money is not found elsewhere.
“Over the next few months, I will be putting together proposals on service reductions with my library team and library board. When the Expansion Tax expires on June 30, 2025, those cuts will be enacted. More information will be released as we work through this tough budget,” Scott wrote.