On the heels of a federal funding setback, the historic Copper Queen Library in Bisbee has been selected for the inaugural Smithsonian Rural Library Cohort.
The 12-month national program will bring free virtual educational programming, Smithsonian resources and expert support directly to the library starting in September.
"This opportunity recognizes the important role rural libraries play in strengthening their communities," library manager Jason Macoviak said.
Macoviak said the cohort selection also brings renewed inspiration for the team.
“A lot of people, when they think of the Smithsonian, they think of the actual museum in D.C.,” said Macoviak. “They think of it as a physical location.”
The rural library cohort is the first of its kind and will be entirely remote and digital. Macoviak said it will allow the Smithsonian to support and work more closely with rural communities.
The opportunity will also allow Copper Queen to network with the 16 other libraries in the cohort, exchange ideas and learn how they’re serving their communities.
Macoviak said the library is looking to partner with the Bisbee Science Lab to enhance programming at its annex location, as one of its cohort-supported events.
“We're going to go above and beyond,” Macoviak said.
’Tapestry of the Bisbee community’
Despite a staff of only two full-time employees and three part-time employees, the city-owned library hosts roughly 400 events each year, thanks in part to volunteers, Macoviak said. He attributes the community’s loyal devotion to keeping the library running for nearly 120 years – making it the oldest continuously operating library in Arizona.
It opened in 1907 under the Phelps Dodge Mining Company.
"We've been here through the biggest heyday of the mining industry here in Bisbee and we were also here for the closing of the mines in the ‘70s," Macoviak said.
In the rare-book room, travel guides from the early 1900s sit near accounts of the Titanic sinking — relics from a time when the world came to Bisbee through printed pages.
"Then we were here during Bisbee's reinvention as mining was phased out and artists started to come into town and make a presence here … all those pieces of history have come together and created this wonderful tapestry of the Bisbee community,” Macoviak said.
But the 119-year-old building is showing signs of age. A 2020 assessment identified major repair needs, including repointing brick and replacing south-facing windows before exterior ornamentation deteriorates further.
Bisbee building shows signs of age
Library staff say part of the third-floor balcony ornamentation has already fallen. Luckily, no one was injured.
Staff learned in May that the GOP-led House Subcommittee on Agriculture denied the library nearly $650,000 in federal funding for structural improvements.
According to Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who submitted the funding request, the subcommittee rejected the proposal because the library hosted two drag storytime events — one in 2019 and another in 2024. She said staff with the subcommittee told her the request had been flagged. Democratic congressional aides confirmed to AZPM that the library’s defunding was for that reason.
None of the nine Republican representatives on the subcommittee responded to requests for comment.
The issue was not publicly discussed during hearings for the bill. It advanced without the library funding and included language seeking to protect people who believe marriage should be recognized as a union between one man and one woman.
Library staff and volunteers say the 2024 event was well attended and that the library had not received complaints beforehand. Bisbee Councilmember Trish Damon, who also volunteers with the library, said the drag performers were dressed as “joyful flowers and bumblees,” and that the event was age-appropriate.
“I can say that we're all pretty disappointed. We thought this was a really great opportunity that we could have gotten,” Macoviak said in May.
Despite the infrastructure needs, Macoviak says he and his staff remain deeply committed to serving Bisbee, and that he plans to resubmit the application through Grijalva next year.
“We think there's still an opportunity there to work with the federal government to get funding to restore our building,” he said.
Rep. Grijalva announced the new programming for Copper Queen Library on Wednesday, alongside nearly $500,000 in grants for University of Arizona libraries.
The two federal grants for the university will expand digital preservation and scientific data curation. A $299,454 grant will fund training for library and archive professionals through a new academy and summer institute.
A second $199,450 grant will develop guidelines, training, and software to curate data for physical scientific samples, advancing open science and data reuse.
