The Minneapolis City Council will be voting on the budget today starting at 5 p.m. Among the debated items is whether or not to close three community libraries. The libraries are up against additional money to make sure liquor licenses are approved quicker and that people can find their way around City Hall. (I always thought that with a big enough contribution, a council member will give you a personally guided tour.) There were four pieces in the Strib over the weekend and today. Coleman’s been on the case for over a week.
Fate of Libraries Decided Today
Dec 11 2006 — 2:00am
4 Reader Comments
11:26 am
What a crazy f’ed up situation. I’m trying to decide if I’m more upset or humored about the stupidity of this whole thing. We hire a world famous architect to build a beautiful expensive new library, but we can’t afford to keep the branches up & running? Can’t the library sell off assets & naming rights in order to support itself?
How about the “William McGuire Media Center for Business Ethics” or perhaps the could offer Target & Best Buy etc. the opportunity to have their logos scrolling up & down the back of the elevators. Or, they could sell that extra 40′ of roof as scrap metal.
11:26 am
So some people think we need books AND the interweb?
12:27 pm
I suggested just that, g rote.
But, the politics of building the Central Library, which we needed, were complicated. Bond money had to also go for the renovation of branches. That was six years ago, before the financial “crisis” hit the city. But, it’s like any thing else, the city will find money for the projects that get public support (read public outcry.) Why is there a large budget item for quicker liquor license approval? Could it be that contributors want it?
1:31 pm
I wonder how much the library could get if they let Target & Best Buy hang logos from the “wings” of the roof. They could just pretend that it’s seasonal ornamentation.
Also, what’s with Bartel’s monthly swiping of my ideas?