Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Library Overhaul?

You might also want to check out this Post article on plans to radically change the District's libraries. The plans, which are ambitious to say the least, call for libraries to get new computers & offer wifi access to patrons (this from a system that the Post reminds us has difficulty sending out overdue notices). At any rate, the article if worth reading even if only because it does remind you that 37% (coincidentaly the same number of pages as the new draft summary report) of adult DC residents are functionally illiterate. Here's a link to more information about the plan. You can also read about the Xtreme Mobile Library if you missed it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

MLK library was a disaster before Williams took office. Nothing in the place works, including the copying machines and elevators.The microfishe readers must date from the 40s.
Have you ever tried using a restroom there?

Anonymous said...

Big fan of the prison style stalls at MLK.

Some of these proposals sound great, but I wonder if proposing to throw $300 million at the problem is really the solution. It's like dropping a billion on the schools. If you aren't changing the culture of the workforce and the layers of bureaucracy, do we think the results are going to be any different than the current state of affairs.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone ever checked out the library on 13th and H NE? It looks so depressing. I've been using the Arlington VA library system.

inked said...

That modular library is pretty much only open M-F during business hours. The one interesting thing about R. L. Christian is that it is "portable" (it is not bound to a foundation & theoretically be moved elsewhere at some point).

Anonymous said...

I just saw an announcement for a meeting about RL Christian. There has been a proposal for a couple of years, to build an apartment building with a library and public parking on that corner. The well connected Christian family (remember Judge Kaye Christian?) don't want the library building replaced.

I don't get how something that looks like a hotdog stand honors dad better than a multiuse building.

This is a important corner, and community issues like a really good library, affordable housing and parking need to be addressed. Is it a fear of change? This will be an interesting issue to watch.

inked said...

Where did you see the announcement? Send me the info & I'll post it.