Photo by Aysia Lane
The City of Dallas’ proposed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget brings with it the closing of the Skillman Southwestern Branch Library. We’ve summarized the reasons mentioned for choosing the Skillman location to close, sourced from City memorandums and the proposed budget itself.
Location
The library, sitting at the corner of Southwestern Boulevard and Skillman Road, is less than two miles from Vickery Park Branch Library and roughly 3.5 miles from the Audelia Road and Lakewood branches. This close proximity, according to the budget, allows the Vickery Park, Audelia and Lakewood branches to provide their services to the neighborhoods around the Skillman Southwestern branch.
The neighborhood surrounding the branch has a low Equity Impact Assessment score of one. This means that there are fewer levels of poverty in the branch’s service area.
Residents visiting the branch were observed to be using personal vehicles to access the location in comparison to other locations that experienced more foot traffic.
Size
Due to the size of the library, expansion is not a feasible option.
Results
The proposed Skillman Southwestern branch closure will allow other locations to operate at expanded hours.
After the building is vacated, it will be placed in the Real Estate inventory for sale and proceeds will go to the City’s General Capital Reserve Fund.
