I am voting for the library referendum even though I never plan to visit the
main library. I am voting for the referendum because I want strong
branches. A bunch of the cash is slated for a updating or relocating a
number of branches.
Every time my wife has a meeting I pack up all three kids and we walk to
Roosevelt Library. It is an attractive old brick building, and has
fascinating set of "windows to nowhere" in the ceiling. But the entry has
a step and there are two closely spaced doors which make getting a
wheelchair into the building very difficult (I've done it with a stroller).
And even if you can, the bathroom is down a flight of stairs in the
basement.
The staff has been a great in both helping us find books and ordering things
from the rest of the system. I have yet to have a negative experience with
them, even when I came hustling in all out of breath at two minutes to
closing.
Don't merge the Hennepin County and Minneapolis Libraries! Never! Hennepin
County has the bulk of the voting public and would quickly gain control of a
countywide library board. Two bad things would happen:
1) We'd lose our branch libraries. The suburban voters and the people they
would elect expect to drive anytime they want to do anything from shop to
work to play. So they would think the branches are redundant and close at
least half of them so save cash.
2) The Minneapolis library has some very nice collections including an
original Audubon portfolio and a very good World War II collection. These
would either move to the burbs or be sold. Either way we lose. I'm hoping
the referendum will allow space for at least portions of the W.W.II
collection to be on display.
Rich Chandler - Ward 9
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D.Klein
> I am usually a lurker on this site, mostly because I feel I don't have a
> good grasp of the issues discussed here (but obviously I am interested!) -
> and since I was soundly walloped for my one voiced opinion on graffiti.
> But, I offer my (and others of my family and acquaintance) opinion on the
> library vote as perhaps the voice of those of us who don't "get" the
> debate.
>
> We're not voting for it. (We are voting for schools.)
>
> I may be wrong, but the site, method, means and manner of obtaining a new
> main library seem seriously flawed, and the corollary branch plans seem to
> be a weak addendum. I am no longer willing to vote for something with
> the good faith that it will all be worked out later in the details. Give
> me good details and I'll support it.
>
> This has nothing to do with our property taxes. We pay alot, and are
> willing to do so in order to live in this city in a great neighborhood.
> In fact, for a terrific library plan, I'd pay more. But closing the
> central library down for years, building it in the same location, and
> shuffling books and people around in the interim makes no sense to me.
> Why not consider a city/county merger? My hometown did it twenty years
> ago. Why not move to the Sheraton Hotel site, make it part of the skyway
> system, make it a city center rather than an out of the way afterthought?
> Why bundle the branch plans in with the catastrophically needed central
> building?
>
> If all of these questions, and more, have been cogently answered, well
> then, I haven't gotten it, and neither have those I have discussed it
> with.
>
> When I moved here twenty years ago I was excited, anticipating using a big
> city library. Had to be much better, I thought, than what I was used to
> living in smaller and less progressive towns. While I moved to St. Paul
> (what did I know?), I worked in downtown Minneapolis. But, even though
> my office was one block from the downtown library, I found I used on a
> weekly basis, a beautiful old St. Paul Carnegie library on Marshall Ave.
> I preferred that and the downtown St. Paul library to Minneapolis. Why?
> Because when I first saw the downtown Minneapolis library, I laughed. I
> thought it was a joke. I couldn't believe that a city of this size and
> sophistication, to say nothing of striving for a world class,
> arts-forward, progressive reputation, could consider that mess, that pole
> building with escalators, a world class public library. Everywhere I had
> lived had better, and many towns were smaller, less noted and poorer.
> Then when I finally moved to Minneapolis, I thought - now I bet I'll have
> a great old Carnegie building to take the kids to for story time - and
> what's our neighborhood library? The Walker - a groovy basement space
> with tin can signage - out of necessity to explain what the heck it is
> (LIBRARY, thank you very much), overlooking a littered, unused courtyard.
> So where do we go? Ridgedale. But we shouldn't have to.
>
> The rationales given for a new central library are so "well-reasoned", so
> "well-studied" and so lame! For example, one of the core reasons given is
> that there might be a fire and it isn't well protected! People! The
> average voter isn't going to rally around that concept (not to ignore the
> Fahrenheit 451 implications). Please! Give us something with heart! How
> about "The building is baboon-faced ugly, it never worked, it never could
> work, we messed up. Could we just start over and do it again?" That I'd
> vote for.
>
> So - bring me a simple, well thought out plan that doesn't look like pork
> barrel with 293 amendments tacked on and I'll support it, I'll vote for
> it, I'll campaign for it, and I'll help pay for it. But this one isn't
> it.
>
> Also in support of the mandatory use of Spellcheck, (all grammatical and
> punctuation errors are my own).
>
> D. Klein - Kenwood
