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D.C. Council Committee Tables Plan for New Central LibraryPlans for a new central library on the site of the District of Columbia’s old convention center hit a snag November 21 when a city council committee voted 3–2 to table the proposal.At the meeting of the council’s Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation, council member Carol Schwartz moved to table the bill; Schwartz has previously voiced opposition to the library, calling instead for revenue-generating residential and retail development on the site. Council members Marion Barry and Vincent C. Gray joined Schwartz in voting to table the bill; Gray said he wanted to investigate the feasibility of renovating the present Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Library Board President John W. Hill expressed concern that the council’s reluctance might derail a proposal in President Bush’s FY 2007 budget for $30 million towards construction of a new central library and renovation of branches. Hill said in the November 30 Washington Post that Congress might not support the funds if the District fails to move on the new facility. Outgoing Mayor Anthony A. Williams had hoped the council would approve the project, part of his plan to refurbish the library system, before he leaves office January 2. A task force appointed by the mayor to assess the library’s future issued its final report November 20. The report identifies four overarching challenges—aging facilities, staffing issues, hardware and software technology deficits, and substandard collections—and suggests steps to address them. It also recommends that DCPL “replace the functionally obsolete MLK library with an inspiring, state-of-the-art facility whose site, scale, and design are to be determined through an inclusive and exhaustive public planning process,” and that the system renovate, rebuild, or replace its existing branches. Posted December 1, 2006. |
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