CITY OF ;RANCPO MIRAGE
STAFF REPORT
TO: Library & Observatory Board DATE: July 20, 2023
FROM: Aaron Espinosa, Library Director
SUBJECT: Closure of the Library and Observatory for the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival
SPECIFIC REQUEST OR RECOMMENDATION
That the Library and Observatory Board approve closing the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory from Friday, January 26, through Tuesday, February 6, 2023, for the tenth annual Rancho Mirage Writers Festival.
JUSTIFICATION OR INFORMATION
The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory, the home of the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival, will welcome 50 authors and approximately 1,100 attendees to "celebrate the written word" from January 26 — February 6, 2024, impacting 10 normal operating days of Library & Observatory business.
As it did in nine previous years, 2014 through 2023, the Festival will be positioned on the Valley's busy seasonal calendar; soon after the Palm Springs International Film Festival and before Modernism Week.
Closing the Library for the comfort and safety of staff, ticketholders, and authors from Friday, January 26, through Tuesday, February 6, 2024, will allow full utilization of all library spaces, adequate time for set-up, attention to details, and testing of all audio and video equipment. Rental furniture will be put in place in some spaces, while lecterns and step and repeat backdrops are installed in presentation locations.
This ten -business day closing represents 3% of the current library year: we have 300 scheduled days of service. It should be noted that long standing patterns of use find Fridays and Saturdays as the Library's slowest days for public traffic and check-outs, followed by Thursday. Therefore, these days are well chosen to limit public impact. Closing through Tuesday, February 6 gives staff and rental companies the best and safest opportunity to put the Library back into its regular configuration.
AGENDA ITEM #
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DATE: July 20, 2023 Page 2 of 2
JUSTIFICATION OR INFORMATION CONTINUED:
Though closed to the general public as a physical building, these library services would continue uninterrupted:
• Full on-line access to the library and its many research databases • Full on-line access (with phone assistance if needed) for patrons downloading a -books onto their devices
• Full staff in place to register and assist festival goers • Full staff in place to answer phone calls from information seekers, 9am — 5pm each day • Full access to live, on-line homework and research support for our cardholders, particularly students grades 7-12 and college
• Active communication with neighboring library staff in Palm Desert, Cathedral City, and Palm Springs will have them eager to assist Rancho Mirage residents who may use those facilities as needed just as our staff assists the residents of those cities every day Enthusiasm for the Festival and the opportunity for our readers (ticketholders) to meet notable authors ranging from bestselling writers to those enjoying their first published books, makes our event accessible and welcoming. The Festival is Library -centered in four venues in the building.
The Rancho Mirage Writers Festival continues to be a cultural and intellectual highlight of our winter season and will for the foreseeable future. It has achieved regional, national, and international stature since 2014. Devoting the Rancho Mirage Public Library and Observatory to it for ten days of the Library's service year assures a quality, focused experience for authors and their readers, with time for staff and rental companies to safely and properly set-up the Library interior for the Festival, then return it to its normal configuration.
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