Poor NM Town Loses Library
Budget cuts shut library; community now served by a bookmobile
By Alex Sinclair -- School Library Journal, 10/1/2004
Most people have never heard of Mora, a poor, rural community in New Mexico where poverty and suicide are high, and many residents don't even have phones. Now the community is getting more bad news: the David Cargo Public Library has shut its doors.
Due to a budget shortfall, Mora County commissioners recently voted to eliminate the library's bilingual director and only staff member, Crystal Clark-Fort, effectively shutting down the center of activity for the nation's second poorest community. "This is a community that can barely afford a newspaper or a periodical, let alone computers, and they can't afford to travel to Las Vegas, which is just 30 miles away," says Edith Bartley, chair of the library board. "We just about have a phone system here."
Ironically, the country has already raised $225,000 to build a new library by next summer, and the federal government is expected to provide an additional $60,000, says County Manager Judy Finley.
But until then, many Mora residents will be left without a library. "It makes you mad," says Clark-Fort, whose offer to work a minimum of 25 hours was rejected by the county commissioner. Mora is currently being served by a bookmobile from Las Vegas once a week for an hour and a half.
