Citizens around town have shouted in protest since the announcement that the 2009 City Budget includes plans to shutter the Main Library while a new or temporary site is constructed, and supporters of the library are doing something about it. A blog site set up by supporters of the library updates information almost daily and has collected 2,000 signatures from people unwilling to see the library close, even on a temporary basis. The goal is to reach 5,000, or 1% of the library’s 500,000 visitors every year.
“Closing Main Library will mean that the vital resources and services provided to residents city-wide, will no longer be available,” reads the Overview section of the site. “The trade-off is to add hours to the eleven branch libraries and create a temporary computer/homework center downtown. We are deeply concerned that these solutions do not address the needs of the 500,000 annual visitors to Main Library, the disabled community, the seniors, and the 28,000 children served by Main. Main Library IS the neighborhood library for the downtown area.”
The site attempts to break down Main Library facts and statistics while dispelling rumors it finds to be untrue, whether they came from city government or the media. Recently, the site mentions ideas from Councilmembers Gerrie Schipske and Suja Lowenthal that make the idea of a temporary site more appealing.
There is a very big difference between some kind of temporary “trailer or kiosk” and a functioning temporary library,” the story reads. “The public must be vigilant in expressing their needs and expectations to the Council.”
The site encourages readers to write their Councilmember, the City Manager and the Mayor to express their feelings about the library. The signatures will be presented at an upcoming City Council meeting and supporters plan to show up en masse to this Tuesday’s budget hearing meeting at 3:30pm.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor