About a month after partnering with the city of Sedona to lease its administration building for a new courtroom, the Sedona-Oak Creek School District has found yet another partner to lease space.
At the Aug. 10 SOCSD meeting, the Governing Board approved a lease with the Sedona Public Library for use of the library at Big Park Community School, which has sat unused since the school’s closure in 2018.
The facility will be used for the Village of Oak Creek’s branch library.
According to Library Director Judy Poe, the agreement is a welcomed sight for staff and the public.
“We’ve been in talks with the school district for quite a while and we are thrilled that we have reached an agreement,” she said following the meeting. “Big Park Community School had a vacant library, and we were a library looking for a larger, more permanent home in the Village of Oak Creek.
“Schools and libraries go together like peanut butter and jelly. With this agreement, a full-service library in the Village of Oak Creek can become a reality. That will please residents, especially families with children.”
Jennifer Chilton, SOCSD’s director of operations, said the 4,000- square-foot library will be leased for $3,500 a month along with utility fees. The library will have access to the premises at all times, but public access hours are limited to 28 hours per week.
The agreement also states that the library can exceed that 28 hours a week with an additional four hours a month — at $15 an hour — for library-hosted public meetings.
According to a report from the district, the lease shall be for the initial term of one year, commencing on Friday, Oct. 1, and ending Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.
The library has the option to extend the term of the lease for two terms of one year each, upon the same terms and conditions.
“I’m very much looking forward to the library project in the VOC,” Chilton said later in the week. “That lease begins in October, so that allows time for our school year to settle into a routine so that we can allocate the time needed to prepare the space and complete any needed repairs or other arrangements for occupancy.
“I know the library crew has much work on deck also to prepare for relocation, so adding a month to the timeline was helpful.”
