Residents urge Fort Worth to reopen Seminary South branch library

Several South Side residents urged the Fort Worth City Council to reopen the Seminary South Branch Library during the Feb. 18 public comment session.

"The Seminary South Branch Library was a cornerstone of our community for generations and its absence has been deeply felt by all of us," Rosemary Galdano, a District 9 resident, said. Galdano told the council the branch was closed in December 2021 “supposedly due to low census in 2020,” and said the closure was compounded by the downtown library's move and the replacement service, the Grand Bibliotheca, which she called "nothing more than a bookmobile without wheels."

Vicki Vargas, who lives in District 11, also urged reopening and framed the request as part of broader efforts to address literacy. "Libraries are more than just buildings filled with books. They are the heart and soul of community," Vargas said, adding that a full-service branch would support children’s literacy and provide resources not available in the smaller facility at Grand Plaza Mall.

Galdano and Vargas said the Grand Bibliotheca serves a limited segment of the community and that the South Side lacks comparable full-service library options. Galdano noted that, by her count, other parts of the city have multiple full-service branches and argued that investing in libraries is necessary to improve literacy and community outcomes.

Speakers asked the council and the newly hired city manager to prioritize reopening the Seminary South branch and to allocate budget resources to restore full services. They framed the ask as a request for city investment and planning rather than a demand based on a specific ordinance or council action recorded at the meeting.

The remarks took place during the public comment portion of the Feb. 18 meeting; no formal motion or vote on the library was recorded in the meeting transcript.