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Yuma County to end school-library intergovernmental agreements, relinquish materials to districts
Summary
The Board authorized the library director to terminate intergovernmental agreements with Hyder and Mohawk Valley elementary districts effective July 1, 2026, citing security and operational changes that have left the collections functioning as school libraries; the board voted 5-0 to approve the terminations and relinquishment of materials.
The Yuma County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously March 2 to authorize the Yuma County Free Library District to terminate two long‑standing intergovernmental agreements with Hyder Elementary School District No. 16 and Mohawk Valley Elementary School District, effective July 1, 2026, and to relinquish the physical collections at those schools to the respective districts.
Library Director Ashley Jones told the board the agreements — established in 1999 and 1995, respectively — originally let the schools act as public access points. Jones said changes in school security policies and the library district’s service model have made the arrangements impractical: "Schools are no longer open public facilities, requiring visitors to check in through the front office," she said, and since 2022 the district stopped staffing those locations directly and instead funded school employees to oversee the collections, creating oversight and reporting challenges.
Jones said the collections have largely become children’s materials suited to school libraries rather than public-library branches. She described plans to maintain library service in East Yuma County by exploring a potential property purchase in the Tacna area and evaluating expansion of the Foothills Library if county-owned adjacent property can be repurposed.
Supervisor Darren Simmons said he had met with both district superintendents and that they were sympathetic to the change; the board approved three related motions — terminating each IGA and relinquishing materials — on separate voice votes, all 5-0.
The terminations do not remove books from use in the schools; instead, the materials will be transferred to district control and the county will continue to explore alternative public-service options for East Yuma County residents.
