Welcome to the Save Palomino Library Information Center

Explore this wiki to learn more about Palomino Library, a shared public/high school library in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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The Scottsdale City Auditor recently conducted an audit of Palomino Library to see if the City and the Scottsdale Unified School District are in compliance with the intergovernmental agreement. This summary appears on page 7 of the report, Palomino Library IGA Compliance, dated February 9, 2012:

"While both parties generally comply with the IGA, certain improvements can be made, including billing all allowed costs to SUSD, sharing relevant financial information, and documenting mutually agreed-to changes. Some additional changes to the agreement are warranted, such as requiring unresolved issues to be timely directed to the Contract Administrators, establishing a facility maintenance standard and decreasing the notification period required for termination without cause."

Read coverage of the audit and the Auditor's recommendations as reported by the Arizona Republic on February 22, 2012.

Here are few observations:

1. The footnote on page 4 of the report: "While counting patrons once a month, Palomino staff estimate the number of students present based on observation." We've contended this methodology is flawed, especially when counts were conducted outside of Desert Mountain's school day.  Library volunteers conducting previous counts were instructed to count visitors appearing to be between the ages of 5 and 18 as students. Tallies we obtained showed young visitors were counted as students in the evenings and on Saturdays, times when school was not in session. During these times, every library user should be considered a public library patron. 

2. From page 16: "Community Services Executive Director and the Interim Library Director will work with Assistant City Attorney to create the revised Palomino Library IGA." Does this reflect a commitment to the partnership? Shouldn't representatives from the school district be included in the revision process?

3. The audit is dated February 7, 2012. The Arizona Republic reported on February 22: "As of last week, school district representatives had not yet seen the report and were unable to comment..." Does this indicate a communication issue between the City and SUSD?

Bottom line: Use it or lose it

If you want Palomino to remain open, your continued support is critical.

Please adopt this action plan:

• Visit Palomino Library often, especially in the evenings, on Saturdays, and during the summers. Visiting the library during these times negates the argument that Palomino only is used by Desert Mountain High School students.
• Check out an armload of books, DVDs, and CDs.
• Attend library programs.  
• Ask questions at the Information Desk.  
• Use the free, speedy computers. 
• Take advantage of great deals in the Library Shop.
• Donate books, magazines, CDs and DVDs for the Library Shop and request a receipt for your taxes.

 
Need a library card? Apply for an account online and immediately use your new account to use the library's extensive online research collection. Log into your account, click on the Modify Personal Information button, and make sure that Palomino Library is listed as the home library on your account.

Participating in these activities generates statistics that are tallied, arrayed on spreadsheets, and compared to the use of the other system libraries. Increasing these statistics is the best way to show community support of our library! Use Palomino Library or risk losing it.  

Palomino's hours

9 am - 8 pm       Monday through Thursday 

10 am - 6 pm    Friday and Saturday 

Closed                 Sunday

When Desert Mountain High School is in session, Palomino opens at 7:15 am Monday through Friday. 

For more information or to join our distribution list, email SavePalominoLibrary@yahoo.com.