-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 17 October 2002 23:22, Mike Nelson wrote:
> Sorry to hear of your disappointment with the interim site, but there > is just as much if not more carpeting at this site than in the old > library. I realize that, but the old site had plenty of tile... as such the floor was finished. The interim floor is unfinished. > Carpet is nice as it helps deaden a room acoustically, but beyond that > I fail to see any real benefit from it being installed in a temporary > space. For whatever reason, the interim space feels "loud" to me, and I normally don't hear that well. I guess years of working in skyrises has me expecting that cheap sectional carpet to be in a place like that rather than an unfinished floor. I fully understand that carpet is harder to clean and things like that. And really, my first day there was one of the first days the location was open. My comments were not entirely fair. And I certainly didn't want to slight the library staff-- who are amazingly helpful and friendly and I can barely imagine how hard this move has made their jobs. > The library is facing serious budget cuts, and this may be a good > place to save money. I'm pretty sure I find it confusing to hear the words "save money" in association with this project. I've seen a lot of new tech appearing at the new library, none of which looks that affordable to me. What happened to the old auto-checkout machines that I never saw anyone use, and why were they replaced with new ones that I expect will also be largely unused? Have these machines reduced the need for checkout staff in any measurable quanity? I really have to say that I doubt it. I'm also very concerned that the Library (and all City government) is spending a lot of money on newer computers and Windows and other proprietary software license fees when there are Free Software alternatives (please see http://www.gnu.org or http://www.debian.org for more information on Free Software). As an observer I don't get a lot of information about this stuff (and I do try to dig for it, but my free time is limited), so I'm sorry if I'm going off half-cocked here, but I have to question this stuff because I think there are affordable, sensible solutions that have additional long term benefits. > The word slipshod suggests carelessness and negligence. > The only evidence of this I have seen is in the deplorable working > conditions imposed on some of the employees that the public doesn't see, > a subject I won't get into right now. Again I want to sound as though I'm badmouthing the employees! I'm pretty sure that the people who've had to do the actual work of packing/unpacking, setting things up, dealing with an 400% increase in the need to help patrons find stuff, learning the new setup, etc... that those people are being stretched to their limits. I haven't got a single complaint about the librarians and other staff. > Please keep in mind the fact that this place is temporary, and most of > the people involved have never had to move a library of this size. > They are doing their best, and most are anything but careless or > negligent. Most of those people probably weren't the decision-makers who chose to move to an interim location before plans for the new location were even finalized nor-- as I understand it-- financing fully secured. > Things could be worse. In St. Paul, everyone, including the children, > was just S.O.L. while they renovated their central library. They saved a > LOT of money by not having an interim site. And I have to ask: in St. Paul had they actually gotten building plans and financing together for the new building before they went and closed the central library? My reference to Block E was deliberate. I consider that whole thing from 1987 to present a bona fide fiasco. I ride the bus past another location (the Hollman site) where the City was eager to bulldoze, but seems to be way behind schedule on replacing the homes they destroyed. I live less than a mile away from a large field of grass on a major intersection, for which I've seen development plans, but for which no development *at all* has actually been done. I don't think I'm off-kilter to worry that my beloved Minneapolis libraries will have similar problems, when they start to throw up red flags like being months behind on getting plans for the new building drawn up (the MPL site says these schematics were planned for Summer 2002). -michael libby (cleveland/north mpls) p.s. list-members: please don't "cc" me when replying on-list to a post I've made. I don't need two copies of the same message. Thanks. :) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Michael C. Libby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> public key: http://www.ichimunki.com/public_key.txt web site: http://www.ichimunki.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE9sAXr4ClW9KMwqnMRAsYDAJ9UwFBU0PEbQYMYkKf5SKQ0Zj+8NgCfUt4w K0NdL1GJYiwrJv4DksZfHxs= =zyss -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
