In-person libraries have had a difficult time keeping their doors open as online retailers have opened to the public.
With the increasing popularity of online bookstores, libraries across the United States have seen a significant drop in visitors. However, the Glendale Libraries have been able to have four locations running within the city and have made efforts to stay current.
Glendale has three libraries open across the city: The Foothills Library, the Heroes Regional Park Library, the Main Library, and the Velma Teague Library.
Each location has a steady number of people entering its doors and looking into its programs. It has managed to maintain its community interactions and supporter base by offering free books and group activities.
They pride themselves on staying up to date with new forms of technology and even utilizing them in the library.
Youth Librarian with the Glendale Main Library Stephanie Menchaca Martinez believes her job as a librarian goes behindbeyond books. One of her most rewarding moments as a librarian was helping a lady navigate using Google Docs to edit and print her documents for the first time.
“It’s something for me that seemed really small, I use it every day,” Martinez said. “But for someone else, it’s like they’re learning new skills and they’re being introduced to new things that’s just helping them.”
She also expressed that instead of viewing artificial intelligence, or AI, as a threat to the libraries, the Heroes Regional Library has welcomed teaching their patrons about what it is and how it could be used for good or bad. This way, they can inform them of how to safely navigate using AI.
While each location has managed to stay afloat regarding its competition, they have experienced unrelated challenges.
The Heroes Regional Library is experiencing trouble keeping up with the growing population and requires more space to provide all possible services. While the Velma Teague location experienced a scare of being demolished and relocated this year.
Three of Glendale’s librarians took time to discuss the trials and successes of the Main, Velma Teague, and Heroes Regional Park and Library.
The Main Library
The Main Library is the largest of the four as it is 66,000 square feet in size. Since it is a larger library, it has the ability to hold more community events and materials.
Some services the library offers include online and in-person programs for kids and teens, which help with navigating the library system and assistance with schoolwork.
Though the Main Library has an abundance of resources for the public and a larger amount of space, funding still remains a frequent concern.
Meredith Jenson-Benjamin worked as the manager of the Main Library for ten years before being promoted in 2024, and said she has witnessed several “dips in funding.”
“Funding is always an issue,” Jenson-Benjamin said. “We’re a free service, and people tend to devalue things that are free.”
The Main Library has a reliable number of patrons each year, but there is a conception that libraries are no longer as essential because of the internet. Jenson-Benjamin said she is working to fight the impression that libraries do not have a place in the modern world.
“We have more than 50,000 people here come through the doors of a Glendale Public Library each year, but we always want to make sure that all of our citizens and community members know what we have to offer them,” Benjamin said.
Adult Services Librarian Em Craig acknowledged that in recent years, the Main Library has been relatively “well-funded,” but they are looking to expand their library.
Craig said that their ideas for increasing their resources and accommodating as many people as possible are ideas that are costly, and the money would need to come from somewhere.
“It’s understanding the capacity of what we can do immediately, making the adjustments where we can, and putting several things on the back burner and still trying to roll the ball up the hill as much as we can, even if it seems like a futile endeavor,” Craig said.
The Velma Teague Library
The Velma Teague Library has been a part of the Glendale community for over 50 years, but the building has stood for over 100 years. The Glendale Public Library system said the building is in “extremely poor condition” and would have spent over $5 million to fix the building’s issues.
Velma Teague’s Adult Services Librarian Em Craig said they believe the library is looking for the best solution that allows them to grow, while also still preserving the aspects the community loves most.
“It’s an old building and it’s beautiful because it’s historic, and that is something that the community gets very attached to,” Craig said.
One issue the Velma Teague Library faces is the lack of space available to provide services.
In order to make these goals a reality, they would either need to relocate to a larger and newer building or reshape their goals to meet their current circumstances, while also still connecting with the Glendale community.
“They want to expand their collection, they don’t have space to expand their collection,” Craig said.
The Glendale Main Library offers goods and services aside from books, such as a 3-D printer and a collection of video games.
Due to the building’s state, it slowly had become more difficult over the past few years for the library to provide these services that the other locations offer.
The Velma Teague Library was set to be demolished and relocated to 5835 W. Palmaire Avenue, just a block away from where the library stands.
After community pushback on Mayor Jerry P. Weirs and Councilman Leandro Baldenegro, the decision to demolish and relocate the Velma Teague Library was reversed in January 2025.
Heroes Regional Park Library
The Heroes Regional Park Library is the farthest west of the valley of the four locations, and it is one of the smaller libraries.
The Heroes Regional Park Library opened to the public in 2019 near a smaller community of people living near Westgate.
Craig said that the size of the library “made sense” for the population at the time. However, with the recent developments of the Westgate area, more people have started to visit.
Stephanie Menchaca Martinez has worked with Glendale Public Libraries for about three years. She said that the unexpected increase in library visitors has caused some difficulties for staff. For instance, the building only has one meeting room with a fire code of 35 people for their events and meetings to take place.
“It doesn’t look well that we can’t accommodate all the people because the area is growing,” Martinez said.
Martinez says one of the drawbacks of this issue is the number of kids who end up being turned away from after-school programs due to a lack of space.
However, Heroes Regional is attempting to address this issue head-on.
Martinez said they are hoping the can develop their meeting rooms to allow more people to participate in these events.
“Our building is set to be expanded… where we can accommodate up to over 100 people,” Martinez said.
Though this expansion is not set in stone, the library staff remains positive that their requests will be heard by Glendale’s city officials.
The Glendale Public Library went fine-free in 2023, meaning they do not even charge late fees or check-out fees from renters.
Martinez said she is grateful that even with the difficulties of working with a small building, she is glad that they have enough funding to not charge for their services and materials.
“People often forget that everything we’re offering them; it’s free to them, but the funding and everything else behind it comes from somewhere, ” Martinez said.
The library has become a support system for many Glendale residents, and as much as staff would like to cater to every person’s needs, they have had to remind themselves to remain realistic.
Martinez said she has encouraged library attendees to contact their representatives to ensure that libraries can receive the funding necessary to ensure their services remain free.
“The support from higher up, it trickles down,” Martinez said. “It helps us feel more prepared to be able to provide help for those who come in.”
Edited by Shi Bradley
