La Farge Library lease gets extension

The city and Santa Fe Public Schools have agreed on a 10-year extension of the city’s lease of the property for the Oliver La Farge Branch Library on Llano Street.

The city owns the building housing the library but has leased the land from the school district for 40 years. There was a concern that the district might want the land back to expand a renovation project at De Vargas Middle School, which is being renamed Milagro Middle School.

The school board unanimously approved renewal of the lease, and both sides ratified the contract July 20. The lease extension, which went into effect Aug. 1, requires the city to pay $100 a year and take responsibility for improvements and maintenance of the land.

“This has been a 40-year partnership between two public institutions that has resulted in extensive public benefit, so we’re excited to see it continue,” city spokesman Matt Ross said Tuesday. “Already the ball is moving on upgrades to increase … accessibility [for the disabled] and make other improvements at La Farge, so we hope to see the public continue to enjoy the library for years to come.”

The initial lease agreement in the 1970s gave the city the right to extend the agreement if it provided notice in writing one year before expiration of the lease. Last year, Mayor Javier Gonzales said the city planned to request that extension to keep La Farge open.

The new agreement requires the city to give 120 days notice if it wishes to terminate the lease.

Last year, city leaders said La Farge, which opened in December 1978, needs at least $2 million for upgrades and renovations, money the financially challenged city does not have right now.

Ross said so far the city has invested $100,000 to make the facility more compliant with the Americans with Dis-

abilities Act.

Santa Fe’s public libraries have reported about 600,000 visitors per year, and a city spokesman said last year that more than 230,000 people visit La Farge every year.

The library is named after Oliver La Farge, a Pulitzer Prizewinning writer for his 1928 novel, Laughing Boy, about a Navajo Indian boy’s challenges growing up in the changing American West of the early 20th century.

La Farge, who grew up in Rhode Island but moved to Santa Fe in 1933, wrote a column for

before dying in Santa Fe at the age of 61.

His son, John Pen La Farge, is a writer who is active in historical preservation issues in the city.

Contact Robert Nott at 505-9863021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.