Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the April 1 general election.
The race for Aurora Public Library trustee in the April 1 election includes five candidates who are vying for two six-year seats on the board.
The candidates include incumbents Joseph Sanchez, Kevin O’Neill and Paul LaTour, along with challengers Vincent Gaddis and Ram Tyagi.
Tyagi, 46, of Aurora, said this is his first time running for the library board and that as he talks to people in the community, their concerns include updating technology and facilities and greater mobile accessibility.
“I am out in the community going door-to-door and people say the library system needs upgrades in technology and I have 25 years’ experience in that,” he said.
Tyagi adds there is “an accessibility issue and we need more mobile libraries.”
“We also need to revisit our plans about opening other sites and how can we increase our accessibility to the libraries – that’s a concern I hear especially in the 1st Ward,” he said.
Another issue, Tyagi says, “is how can we increase the membership by bringing in technological experts?”
“We need people from different industries with expertise in AI and technology and with my experience I can get those people here,” he said. “We need a road map as to how we update different libraries, and need to make libraries more accessible at home.”
If elected as a trustee, Tyagi said his goals would include increasing community engagement “so the library is a place for community building.”
“The library needs to become a community hub,” he said. “That’s the first thing I would do if elected.”
Tyagi said he always wants to increase “accessibility and innovation” and increasing most importantly “the accessibility as we enter into this AI era.”
“I also want to enhance the library by bringing in industry experts and helping the younger generation like high-schoolers and people in college – coaching for jobs and all that,” he said. “The issue is expanding the reach of the library into the youths by providing them the guidance that they need for their job search and providing mentorship.”
O’Neill, 70, of Aurora, said he completing a two-year term on the library board after bring appointed after the last election and is seeking his first full six-year term.
Issues among voters, he said, include facility updates, maintaining the current tax rate homeowners are paying to support facilities and offering a greater representation of interests that reflect Aurora’s diversity.
“People are saying they want to see the facilities updated, especially Eola and the West branches,” he said. “They are old and they are not meeting the particular needs that people have now which is more meeting space and more comfort. Eola is very loud and that project is on its way.”
A second issue is to not incur any increases on the tax bill of residents.
“I don’t know if people are aware of it or not, but actually Aurora is a pretty good value relative to the other libraries in the area,” he said.
O’Neill said people “also want the library to represent the various ethnicities and groups that are in Aurora because Aurora is a very diverse community.”
If elected, O’Neill said his goals include “expanding our partnerships with other civic and non-profit organizations.”
“There are some really cool things going on like having lawyers in the library or having the Columbian consulate to meet with people – using our space as another space for non-profit civic organizations to reach out to residents is valuable and something I’d like to see expanded,” he said.
Another goal would be to maintain “the professionalism and engagement of the staff.”
“I’m not saying they are not professional, but without the people and their commitment to what they do the services will suffer. We want to maintain that,” he said.
Gaddis, 61, of Aurora, said in talking to voters, concerns include safety, continuing to be leaders in programming and promoting more literacy.
“In terms of safety, public libraries are one of the last open democratic institutions in the country and the library needs to remain an open, accessible place for everyone,” Gaddis said. “We do have unhoused people who come to the library and some voters are saying they have concerns about safety because of the unhoused population that uses the library.”
Gaddis said voters continue to talk about “the library continuing to be a leader in programming and making the library a strong community hub.”
“If you look at what the library is already doing – enhancing our programming for children and bookmobiles and those kinds of activities,” he said.
A third issue, Gaddis said, involves “promoting literacy in our community.”
“Whether that is classes for people who want to learn English or Spanish or improve their reading skills for all age groups, people want to expand that type of programming,” he said.
If elected, Gaddis said he would like to “make the library a central, community hub for the district.”
“I also want to make sure the library is accessible to all residents of the district regardless of ability, race, creed, color or orientation,” Gaddis said.
“I want to increase digital accessibility so audio books, e-books, tools that people can check out for digital things like iPads and making sure we have different types of programs for all the different groups in the city so they are all welcome into the library,” he said.
Gaddis said another goal would be to offer “responsible budgeting with transparency and updating the strategic plan with input from all constituents and stakeholders within the library district.”
Sanchez, 27, of Aurora, is finishing an appointed term and is now seeking his first six-year term on the library board. In talking with voters, Sanchez said issues include community needs and use of physical space, better engagement and investment in the future.
“Community needs – both physical and resources and spaces. It’s not just remodeling but making the spaces more purposeful,” he said. “We all like new buildings or a renovated building but it’s about how the spaces are being used as the library serves people from all walks of life. We need to make dedicated spaces – especially for youth – they come to the library for a wide range of uses.”
Sanchez said voters are also concerned about increased engagement as well as investments in future generations.
“Engagement – I’ve noticed there are opportunities for our outreach teams to engage with all the schools in Aurora and inform them of the resources that are available at the branches of the library,” he said. “Regarding the future, the library became a public district in 2021 and it has come a long way fiscally to be in a better position for the needs of the citizens of Aurora in the future, and we need to make sure the current resources we have in place are meeting the needs of everyone.”
If elected, Sanchez said he’s like to focus on connections between groups in the city “and be more efficient with connections with the library.”
“I think partnerships go a long way so that’s one method of making the connections,” he said.
Sanchez added he wants “to make sure the library continues to be in a sound financial position.”
“We want to make sure we’re not being out-of-touch with taxpayers and making sure when our budget and tax levy is discussed we’re taking into account our citizens and listening to them,” he said.
Another goal is “to keep the library relevant as we move into the future.”
“We have to make sure this a more than a place where people come and check out books, but provides some innovations and resources,” he said. “We’ve seen an upward trend in foot traffic since the pandemic but how do we maintain that with the changing needs of people?”
LaTour, 57, of Aurora, is seeking re-election to the board and said the top issues people are concerned about include finances, facilities and outreach programs.
“Financing is always a concern with something like this as it’s public taxpayer money,” he said. “People want the (tax) levy where it is. Nobody wants their taxes to go up more than necessary.”
On a second matter, he said facilities are a concern “but we’re addressing that with some new projects at the Eola branch,” LaTour said. “The West Side branch is also going to be undergoing some renovation with new carpeting and other smaller projects.”
Outreach, LaTour says, is something that voters are also looking for.
“I hear from people about there being more outreach and seeing the bookmobile in their neighborhoods and different areas of the city where it’s not easy for people to get to the branches and for kids to be able to see the bookmobile and all that it offers,” LaTour said. “I know that in the past, it’s been a concern that it wasn’t reaching all the people we could be reaching.”
If elected, LaTour said he wants to focus on expanding awareness about the library as well as keeping the library on “the right financial path.”
“People still think the library, that’s it’s just about books, and there’s so many other things that it involves, and I think the word still needs to get out about what a wonderful place these branches are,” he said.
Regarding finances, LaTour said the board “has done quite a bit to improve the finances since we’ve become a district and I want to see that continue. We’ve had good oversight at making sure we’ve not had to dip into a higher tax levy.”
LaTour said while it hasn’t been an issue in Aurora, he also wants to focus on keeping books available and “is opposed to any broad book bans.”
“I just hope our community understands that librarians are experts and they know what they’re doing and we trust their judgement,” he said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
