West Las Vegas Library and NAACP Offer Free Civic Makers Lab Workshops, With More Sessions Planned for January and February

What happened

The West Las Vegas Library has partnered with the NAACP's Las Vegas branch on a free civics course called the Civic Makers Lab, Las Vegas Weekly reported. The series aims to teach participants how they can directly shape the issues they care about. It is funded through a $15,000 grant from the Urban Libraries Council.

The library sits in a historically Black neighborhood that went decades without a full-service library, according to the report. The branch has been open a little less than a year.

How the civics series works

First session: how decisions get made

The first session was held September 10 and drew on Civil Rights history to show how decisions on housing, transportation and policing are made at different levels of government. NAACP Las Vegas President Quentin Savwoir helped attendees identify their elected officials. "You can't go down to Washington D.C. and say, 'Hey, we need more houses in 89106,'" Savwoir told the room, according to Las Vegas Weekly.

Savwoir also connected the lesson to the neighborhood itself, noting that Las Vegas in the 1940s and '50s pushed Black residents into the Historic Westside, where the class was being held.

Second session: voting rights

The series continued October 15 with the same format applied to voting rights. Savwoir said nearly a quarter of first-session attendees came back, joined by new participants. "If you don't learn anything from me in that room, at least you got to meet your neighbor," he told the outlet. More on local voting is available in our elections coverage.

Mentors and younger participants

Rose Gordon, a current Clark County elections worker and former Reno-Sparks NAACP president, has taken part alongside young people learning the history for the first time, Las Vegas Weekly reported. Savwoir said Gordon, now in her 70s, has taken on a mentoring role. "They have the playbook. They know how we've overcome these fights before," he said.

A busy first year for the branch

Library card registrations at the branch have tripled, with 5,466 new cards issued from January to June 2026, according to branch manager Lenika Coleman. Coleman credited a growing list of offerings, including a journaling group, technology workshops, and job and resource fairs.

The branch also offers a free sewing course, EcoStitch 101, taught with EmpoweredMinds Achieve and supported by a $200,000 grant from the James M. Cox Foundation. "We found that we were the hot spot for sewing," Coleman told Las Vegas Weekly.

Recognition and plans for year two

The library received two silver Anthem Awards from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences after being open for less than a year. Coleman said the branch will host a community block party next spring with a vendor area for local entrepreneurs. A chalk fest and a business incubation program are also in development. For more neighborhood events, see our community section.

Why it matters

Savwoir described the library as a place where residents can build skills and connect with each other. "A healthy democracy requires us to be in touch with each other," he said. He also told the outlet that some young people he has spoken with do not know the NAACP from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and that the history is no longer taught in schools.

Savwoir said the history matters especially in the Westside because of the area's deep history of people of color, Black people specifically, "who have really been the orchestrators of making America hold true to her promise."

What to watch next

• The next two Civic Makers Lab sessions are planned for Saturdays in January and February, with dates to be announced, covering "how to build a squad" and "how to plan a campaign."
• Savwoir said a March session is possible, though the series may instead resume after the 2027 Nevada Legislature session.
• The library plans a community block party with a vendor area next spring, according to Coleman.
• A chalk fest and a business incubation program are in development at the branch.