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Cochise County library district highlights 2025 circulation, introduces NorthStar digital-literacy service
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Summary
Board approved the consent agenda and heard library staff report that in 2025 the system circulated more than 433,000 physical items and over 128,000 digital items; staff described NorthStar Digital Literacy, a free Arizona State Library program available to county patrons without a library card.
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors Library District approved its consent agenda and heard a library district update on Monday that highlighted 2025 circulation figures and a new digital-literacy service for residents.
Miss Ricketts, a library district staff member, told Chair Crosby and Supervisor Gomez that the system "in 2025, we circulated more than 433,000 physical items countywide." She added that digital circulation — "things like ebooks and digital audiobooks" — exceeded "128,000 items circulated countywide," and said small branch locations in Bowie, Bridle (transcript: "Bridal"), Portal, San Simon (transcript: "San Azona"), and Sunsites welcomed "more than 14,000 visitors during the year."
The presentation focused on NorthStar Digital Literacy, which Miss Ricketts described as "a great way for folks to learn basic computer and phone and Internet skills." She said the service is provided by the Arizona State Library "at no cost to the county" and called it "free from all of the libraries." On how to access the service, she told the board residents can start through the county library website or by visiting a branch, and said "you just need an email to sign up, and if you know somebody who doesn't have an email yet, we'll help them with that part." When asked whether a library card is required, she said, "No, ma'am. ... this one just requires that you be a human with an email address." She added that most online services do require a card, but NorthStar does not.
Before the presentation, the chair requested and received a motion to approve consent items 1 and 2. A supervisor moved to approve the two consent items and another board member seconded; the chair called for the question and recorded two voice votes of "aye." The chair declared the motion passed. The transcript does not attach individual vote names to the recorded voice vote; one supervisor was noted as absent during roll call.
The meeting notice at the start of the session reminded attendees that the agenda order could change and provided Microsoft Teams dial-in information for remote attendance. The chair closed the library district meeting after the consent vote and stated the next library district meeting will follow immediately after the flood control district meeting.
The board referenced the county library website as the access point for the NorthStar service (transcript domain: "coacheeslibrary.org"); staff directed residents to branch computers and to in-person assistance for residents who need help with email or signing up. The meeting record does not show additional follow-up motions or requests for further information on the NorthStar rollout or budgetary implications.
The library district update and the consent vote were the primary items on the meeting record for the library district session; the board adjourned the library district portion and moved on to other scheduled business.
