The Gila Valley Library has offered quality literature and literacy-related resources to residents of the beautiful Cliff-Gila Valley and its visitors since 2004. Operating initially from what was a storage room in Gila’s community center, it became a fully accredited state public library, in 2008, under the directorship of Certified New Mexico State Librarian Phyllis Reiche. Bursting at the seams in 2012, the library moved to its current location, between Gila’s post office and medical clinic, leasing for a mere dollar a year Hidalgo Medical Services’ vacated space. Under its present director, retired educator Madge Slavec, the library literally transformed the dusty plot, to which it moved, into a green and vital place, thanks to a forestry grant from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. 

Notes from the GVL Board of Directors

Shelby Hallmark, Acting Chair of the Board for the Grant County Community Foundation, and Bernadette Smyth, GCCF Executive Director, present an award of more than $4,000 to Gila Valley Library’s Board Chair April Crosby (center).  These funds will help to replace the library’s access ramp, a vital component of a larger project to develop more accessible and usable outdoor space.  Gila Valley Library greatly appreciates Grant County Community Foundation’s continuing support!

If you are interested in attending board meetings or in joining the library board, contact: aprilecrosby@gmail.com

— library illustration, Steve Waldvogel –

GVL Weather Station

Measures wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and trend, rainfall, wind chill

Access detailed info at Weather Underground

Library Services

• 24/7 Wi-Fi Access
• Two Public Computers
• Interlibrary Loans
• Children’s Activities
• Adult Programs
• Weather Station

You Will Find

• Local Southwest History Section
• Large DVD Section
• Children's Room and Meeting Space
• Community Forest and Interpretive Path
• Art Gallery and Youth Murals
• Southwest New Mexico Seed Library
• High Speed Internet inside and outside the library
• Outdoor Shaded Work Space

NORMAL HOURS
M, W, F  9 am to 4 pm
SAT  10 am to 2 pm
Phone: 575-535-4343
NEW email: gilavalleylibrary1@gmail.com

Board of Directors

• Alida Burhett, President
• Marykate Fowler, Vice President
• Carrie Custer, Secretary
• Patty Reed, Treasurer
• Shawna Arnold
• Jeralyn Hath
• April Crosby
• Frances Higgins
• Chelsey Rocko
• Peter Russell

Library Director Emeritus

• Phyllis Reiche

Staff                           

• Esti Gutierrez, Library Director

Library Partners

New Mexico State Library
Silver City Library
Glenwood Library
Bayard Library

♥ We Love Our Volunteers ♥

♥ Barb Munderloh ♥ Sherry McCullough ♥ Michael Ittner ♥ Ama Rivers ♥ Claudia Richards ♥ Corinne Smith ♥

Community Forestry Project

Comparing photos of the library’s present site to those taken when the library first moved here, it is hard to believe it’s the same place!

Thanks to a grant from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and collaboration among the Amma Center, Aldo Leopold High School students, HMS, and numerous library volunteers, the land GVL shares with Hidalgo Medical Services has become an inviting Community Forestry field site for learning about native and naturalized plants and low-water irrigation systems suited to our high-desert valley.

Along the interpretive walkway many plant names and their benefits are noted on engraved markers. Instructional materials on native and naturalized vegetation, gardening, landscaping, water harvesting, and forestry, are now a part of the library’s collection thanks to additional funding from the New Mexico Library Foundation.

Before:

After:

Midway:

After - behind the library:

Murals at the Library

Two murals for the library were designed and created through The Youth Mural Project of the Mimbres Region Arts Council, under the direction of Diana Ingalls Leyba. Gila youth of all ages assisted in every aspect of the project — design and development — from beginning to end. Additional financial support came from The National Endowment for the Arts, and New Mexico Arts.

The Riparian Life of the Gila River, adjacent to the front door of the library, completed in 2010, was inspired by the nature and agriculture around the Gila River. Sponsors: Leyba & Ingalls Arts, Prudential Silver City Properties, Syzygy Tileworks, J&J Signs. Site sponsor: The Benwood Foundation and the Gila Valley Library.

Gila Stories (detail), alongside the back door of the library, completed in 2012, was inspired by the stories of community elders. Sponsors: Leyba & Ingalls Arts, Prudential Silver City Properties, Syzygy Tileworks, J&J Signs, Walmart. Site sponsor: The Benwood Foundation and Gila Valley Library Board of Trustees.