The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (“LVCCLD”) currently serves 1.5 million people over 8,000 square miles—an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Despite its broad reach throughout the Las Vegas area, in early 2016, the LVCCLD issued a new strategic plan, “Vision 2020,” aimed at modernizing its libraries to adapt to the new digital world.

With the tagline “We don’t library like we used to,” LVCCLD’s Vision 2020 plan aims to give the District the flexibility to adapt quickly to a changing digital landscape by implementing new layouts, technologies, methods of communication, and models of service in all its existing and new libraries.  They recognized that, on the one hand, libraries are being urged to go national and international as a platform for digital content creation and exchange.  On the other, libraries are urged to be a bridge for local social, economic and education connections that are critical to well-being and to be local hubs for learning, creativity and community engagement.

Vision 2020 has become a guide for deploying library assets – virtual and physical – in ways that advance and amplify the talent and vitality of the region, making even more people successful, happy and engaged in learning, discovery, achievement.  In an area that is coping with a plethora of post-recession challenges such as affordable access to food, housing, clothing, employment and education, the new LVCCLD library will address each of these issues by focusing on the four pillars of the Vision 2020 model: Limitless Learning, Business & Career Services, Government & Social Services and Culture & Community.

The new 40,000 sf East Las Vegas Library will be the model for all Vision 2020 libraries going forward.  The building’s open layout will give the Library the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the community, while providing a wide array of resources and services including traditional and digital literacy programming, parenting support, early childhood development services, school readiness, K-12 academic support, out-of-school learning, making, STEAM activities, entrepreneurship, career pathways, employment search and training, access to computers and Wifi hotspots, English language and citizenship instruction, digital media production, and space for cultural performances and community celebrations.  The concept for the new facility is the result of a long and collaborative partnership between LVCCLD and the surrounding community: a series of community outreach meetings yielded a number of new library features which were incorporated into the design.  These new features, unfortunately, increased the project budget from $18M to $22.6M, leaving a $4.6M funding gap with no readily available source of funding.

In July, 2017, CGC and the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation closed on a $17M NMTC financing, utilizing NMTC allocation provided by the City of Las Vegas through its CDE, Las Vegas Community Investment Corporation, and NMTC equity provided by Capital One.  The NMTC subsidy generated by this financing was sufficient to close funding gap and round out the development budget for the new East Las Vegas Library branch.  The new facility is expected to create up to 400 construction and 8 new, permanent FTE positions, while retaining the existing 38 employees.