Resident urges North Las Vegas Library to expand and reclassify Aliante’s 'urban' fiction shelves, says event visibility was limited

A North Las Vegas resident raised concerns about the Aliante Library’s collection and event communication during the public comment portion of the Board of Trustees meeting on May 27.

Levon Hankins told trustees that the library’s “urban” fiction section at Aliante is very small and that many titles are outdated, noting several books with circulation dates back to the 1990s. Hankins said the display occupies only one side of a small shelf and asked that the collection be expanded and refreshed. "Octavia Butler was listed there, and she's not urban fiction," Hankins said, noting Butler’s work is primarily science fiction and should be reclassified.

Hankins also said they attended a mental-health panel at the Alliante branch and only discovered the event by looking at books for sale outside the library; they said the event was not clearly visible in the library upon entry and was not posted on the library website. Hankins said a library employee was helpful and suggested they provide a list of titles for staff review; the resident said they had sent an email with a video and photograph to staff.

Board and staff responses recorded in the meeting indicated staff will follow up to correct classification and visibility concerns and to review the resident’s emailed materials. The resident’s remarks were part of the meeting’s public-comment segment; no board action was taken during that portion of the meeting.