Jan Griffith asked me to forward this to the list. Rosalind Nelson Bancroft neighborhood
>Do you ever do research at the Central Minneapolis Public Library? If so, you need to know about this. After June, much of the older material will no longer be available; it will be packed up and put it into storage. Bound magazines, pamphlets, vertical file material, government documents, and books that are not part of the Library of Congress collection will all be put into storage until the new Library is completed - all in all, two thirds of the items at the Central Library. Do you want to look at "Scientific American" from 20 years ago, or "The New Yorker" from 40 years ago? Do you want to examine an old book that is still classified Dewey decimal? Not available until the new library building is open. The schedule right now is, June, start packing, August, close the current library, November, open in the interim site. Service at the interim site will be more limited than at the current central library; it will be more like a downtown branch, with one central reference desk. The new library is scheduled to open in 2006. >The reason it will happen the way is that the Library board has become wedded to the idea of building on the current site. True, the current building is old, and would need some improvements if the library were to stay there. But the cost of the improvements is estimated at less than 3 million dollars, and the interim site is estimated at 7 to 10 million dollars. >When the funding referendum was approved, the economy was booming. In today's economy, who knows what might happen. The Central Library could move into the interim site, with 2/3 of the materials in storage, start building, and run out of money. Those items might be inaccessible for 5, 6, 8, even 10 years, while the city tries to complete the project. Remember Murphy's law of public buildings - they are never completed on time or within budget. >It's not too late for this to change. The New Central Library Implementation Committee made its recommendation on February 12. The Library Board meets to approve this on February 20. Then the City Council Ways & Means Committee must decide what to do on February 28. It is scheduled to go to the full City Council for approval on March 1. If you don't like the idea of the interim site, with two thirds of the material in storage, contact the Library Board and your City Council Member. <end of forward from Jan Griffith> _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
