Mission Library renamed in honor of facility champion

Richard Elías’ legacy and wishes were honored when Pima County renamed the Mission Library after him on Dec. 16.

Library staff, local leaders and community members watched the unveiling of the new name, The Richard Elias-Mission Library, during a free event featuring entertainment by Mariachi Las Aguilitas de Davis Elementary and Ballet Folklorico Tapatio.

Micha’s Restaurant catered the afternoon get-together, where the public shared fond memories of Elías and saw a sneak peek at the design of the library’s $6 million renovation.

“My father always wanted a library named after him,” said Luz Elías, Richard Elías’ daughter.

“He is not here to see it, but I know he is looking down and is very pleased and very happy with where the library is and what’s going to be done for it.”

Elías, who died in March 2020 at age 61, represented Pima County District 5 on the Board of Supervisors for 18 years.

“Before ever being mayor, and even before running for council, I was and am Richard Elías’ friend,” Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said. “I don’t know if you’ve heard this story before, but I see a lot of beautiful faces of family that were at his memorial about a year ago. And I told this story about how Richard and I met.”

The mayor said she met him when she worked for Pima County’s Neighborhood Reinvestment program.

“I was invited to meet the manager of the affordable housing bond-funded program and that was Richard Elías,” Romero said. “Richard was like, ‘I would love to meet with you and to interview you. Why don’t you meet me at the corner of Pennington and Stone?’ We met at that corner. Little did I know, it (was) because he wanted to sit down and have a smoke with me. That’s where I met Richard Elías.”

Romero said Elías was an incredible storyteller, a holder of history and incredibly proud to be a son of Tucson and the son of Viola and Albert Elías.

Calling Elías a mentor, Romero said he taught her how to be a good community leader.

“He told me, ‘In order for you to be a good leader…you’ve got to know its history, its beautiful history and its difficult history’ that we carry as a city. You’ve got to be able to love its people,” Romero said.

“He will forever be remembered by me and my family and hopefully this community. This library is a wonderful reminder of his contributions to our beautiful city and to Pima County. It is so fitting that a library is named after him…because he seemed to be an encyclopedia of knowledge.”

A lifelong book lover and a library system supporter, Elías programs like Literacy Connects, Reading Seed (tutoring young children in reading), Literacy Volunteers of Tucson (assisting parents on literacy and reading skills), and Stories that Soar.

“This celebration has been a long time coming,” said Amber Mathewson, county librarian and director.

“Richard Elías was such a tremendous supporter of libraries, and he could always be counted on to attend any library event…He always had inspirational stories for us. And he always made every person feel like he was there to see them. I love that he was always so engaged in the community, working for social justice and his belief in all the people in the community.”

During the event, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher and Arizona State Rep. Andrés Cano spoke highly of Elías.

“Huge thanks to all the Elías family for allowing us to honor Richard this way,” Lesher said.

“Music and a library are probably the two things we think about Richard the most.”

Cano added, “Richard was a part of my legacy as much as he was for all of yours. We are here in celebration, recognizing the impact that he had. The fact that libraries were his No. 1 passion, as county supervisor, when he had the opportunity to make a monumental decision to absorb the city’s library system, not only did he say yes, but, he said, ‘Hell, yes! Let’s do it.’ He wanted to keep investing.”

Pima County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair, District 5, Adelita Grijalva said, “Richard was a huge advocate of libraries. He was an avid supporter of all things Pima County, but really his heart was here in District 5.”

“It has been a privilege and an honor to serve here. I think it is so appropriate that this library is going to be named the Richard Elías Library,” she said. “We are going to see it and it is in the heart of our community and everyone’s going to be able to remember his impact. And this library is going to go through a huge renovation and there will be touches of Richard throughout the entire library.”

Henry Tom, the principal architect with Line and Space Architects, presented his design and a model of the library.

“What an honor for us to work on this library to honor Mr. Richard Elías,” Tom said. “We have been working on this project for at least the last six to eight months to get to where we are now.”

Plans call for the addition of 5,000 square feet. It will include a multipurpose room and new entry.

“(It will create) a bigger presence on Ajo and Mission to invite everybody to the library,” he said.

“In order to honor Mr. Elías, we’ve got to learn a little more about him. We learned about what he really liked…music was a big part of it and he was an avid reader. We’re going to have a collection area that will feature some of the books he liked reading and put them on display. And also we will have an area where we will present a biography of Mr. Elías, some of his accomplishments and things he has presented to us as a community.”

This article appears in Dec 29, 2022 – Jan 4, 2023.