Public Libraries Bond
As part of this year’s general election, voters in New Mexico will have several bond issues to consider as they peruse the ballot, including GO Bond 2 or the Libraries bond.
The 2026 Capital Projects General Obligation Bond Act will provide approximately $19 million for libraries throughout the state, including $6 million each for higher education and academic libraries, public school libraries, and public libraries and $1 million for tribal libraries in New Mexico.
GO Bond 2 affects library users at UNM in various ways, including University Libraries, the School of Law Library, the Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center, and health professionals throughout the entire UNM Health System. Collaborative purchases with the other academic libraries across New Mexico enable higher education students at all publicly funded institutions to access essential databases and learning tools. Individual academic libraries also use GO Bonds to purchase unique items for their campuses that benefit the student populations locally.
On UNM’s main campus, GO Bonds have provided access to essential resources at University Libraries for the entire campus and have also been used for technology to support library resource use.
At the UNM School of Law, Upper-level UNM Law and Masters of Studies in Law students routinely use in researching for their Law seminar class papers. Additionally, student staff on all three flagship Law Journals use source-and-citation checks for their editorial work and scholarly pursuits. Nearly 35,000 searches were performed in 2023. In FY24, the Law Library used Bond 2 funds to purchase resources that support faculty research and help educate and train our students to become excellent lawyers who will enrich the local community after graduation. These include West Academic Study Aids and Making of Modern Law Supreme Court Records and Briefs databases.
At the Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center (HSLIC), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) is an essential GO Bond-funded database for nursing and allied health students that provides full-text access to over 1,800 journals. Accreditation of nursing programs often requires CINAHL access, while NMNEC nursing students have access through local programs. Health professionals in the UNM Health system use CINAHL to improve quality, make clinical decisions, and promote better patient care. More than 45,000 searches were performed via the CINAHL database in 2023, demonstrating the need for health care access.
The library bond also provides significant funding for ejournals for research and scholarship spanning all colleges and programs at the UNM Health Sciences Center. Bond 2 helps pay for critical resources that train New Mexico’s next generation of healthcare providers and makes up for gaps in funding when publishers' inflation outpaces increases to our annual collection budget, enabling HSLIC librarians to focus on supporting students and student success.
The State Board of Finance estimates that over 10 years, Bond Issue 2 accounts for $0.82 per $100,000 property value. That is less than the cost of a pack of gum and certainly less than a book, DVD, or database.
For more information about Bond 2, visit N.M. Public Libraries Bond.
