A Phoenix library is the latest building to erase the name of disgraced labor icon Cesar Chavez. The Laveen facility will now be known as the Prickly Pear Library.
The city’s process for renaming a library follows guidelines established in the 1960s to select names affiliated with the Sonoran Desert.
“We tend to follow a process that we put in place back in the early 1960s. Back in the early 1960s, the city of Phoenix did approve a Go Bond at that time to add a number of new libraries to our system,” said Phoenix Public Library spokesperson Lee Franklin.
Five plant names were submitted, and after 6,000 responses from the public, Prickly Pear emerged as the favorite.
“We are regularly interacting with the community members on, you know, a variety of levels and take input and feedback from our community about how the library can reflect them and best serve their needs,” Franklin said.
The name change means the library needs to update signs and other features. Franklin says the four unchosen names may be considered again when two more libraries are built in the near future.
-
Cities across Maricopa County are offering residents free sand for sandbags to help control floodwater during ongoing monsoon storms. -
Several Tempe and Phoenix neighbors reported smelling a strong odor of natural gas outside their homes on July 6, but local authorities said they did not detect a gas leak. -
The Roosevelt School District in south Phoenix has renamed Cesar Chavez Community School to Rio Vista Community School. It’s the latest in a slew of name changes across the state in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against the late civil rights activist. -
The semiconductor manufacturer TSMC says it’s investing another $100 billion in Arizona. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and TSMC’s CEO C.C. Wei say it’s the largest direct investment from a foreign company in U.S. history. -
The concerts will take place over three different days on Valley Metro’s B Line and will feature music from the Phoenix Symphony, the Herberger Theater Center and Rosie’s House, a music academy for children.
