By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Residents on the east side of Del Rio will soon have easier access to computers and books
with the planned opening of a branch library on Tuesday.
A grand opening ceremony for the branch library has been planned for 10 a.m.
The new branch library is located on the campus of the former Travis Elementary School,
315 E. Chapoy St.
County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez, in whose precinct the new branch
library is located and who has been working to convert the former elementary school to a
community center, gave The 830 Times a peek at the new facility.
“A few years ago, I approached Dr. Carlos Rios (public school district superintendent)
about acquiring this former school campus for the county. This was a school property the
district closed down about six or seven years ago, and he was very supportive of the idea.
He took it to the school board, and, to my surprise, they voted to turn it over to Precinct
2, Val Verde County, a lease for 100 years, and we could do whatever we wanted with
it,” Vazquez said.
The commissioner added, “My whole vision was to create a community center for the
community around here. A lot of retired schoolteachers, who used to be my teachers, live
over here. I grew up in the projects here, so I have a deep connection to this barrio.”
Vazquez said the branch library is the first of several projects he plans to site on the
former school campus.
“We are working to hopefully make this the home of a new Veterans Administration
clinic. There will be a doctor, a pharmacist, nurses, and we are finalizing a memorandum
of understanding, an MOU, with the VA, and we’re almost there,” Vazquez said.
He said there are a total of 17 buildings on the former elementary school campus.
“My idea is to knock down some of the buildings on the south side of the campus and
bringing in playground equipment and creating a recreational space for the
neighborhood,” Vazquez said.
He added he again approached the school district about donating all of the playground
equipment now located on the grounds of the former East Side Elementary School.
Vazquez said the entire project grew from an idea he had to create a computer lab for
public use.
“That’s how the satellite library idea got started, because they have computers, and I
wanted a place where members of the community could come in, do research and use the
computers, and they would be for anybody, students doing homework or adults who need
to use a computer, and that’s how it got started, and I talked with David Bond, our county
librarian, as well as commissioners court, and then we began talking about creating a
branch library here,” Vazquez said.
The commissioner said the county has spent about $250,000 to create the branch library
on the grounds of the old school.
“As I said, I grew up in this community, and I felt it was kind of dwindling, like it was a
forgotten part of Del Rio, and I felt there was a need to kind of revive this whole area and
turn it into something positive,” he said.
Vazquez said he and the county are also working to provide space for several other non-
profit agencies that work to benefit the community, including Community Action
Partnership, a program that helps low-income families with their utility bills.
Vazquez said he also hopes to move the county self-help center to the campus.
“They’ve already come to look at the space, and I think it’s going to be really positive for
them. Where we have them now it’s really congested and hard for people to people to
find parking,” Vazquez said.
He said he is also in negotiations with a local counseling center to possibly establish an
office at the old school.
Vazquez’s office manager, Alexa F Trujillo, also has an office on-site.
Four library staffers, including Gamaliel De La Piedra, branch coordinator; Nannette
Barrera, librarian I; Jesse Rios Jr., librarian I; and Victor Cirilo, librarian II; will be
stationed at the site to assist users.
Hours at the facility at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“We offer a variety of services, including printing for 10 cents a sheet for black-and-
white, 50 cents for color, and we only accept cash right now. We offer eight computers
for adult use, and we also have two children’s educational computers, and all of the
computers are brand new,” Barrera said. “We also offer books for sale, and the proceeds benefit the Friends of the Val Verde County Library, which put on the library’s summer reading program,” she added.
The branch library offers patrons a collection of 3,500 books available for checkout.
The branch library also includes a classroom that will be available for a variety of uses.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
