BY MELISSA GRACE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER With Rivka Bukowsky, Yuan Yuan and Joyce Shelby
Wednesday, January 4th 2006, 9:26AM
THE BROOKLYN Public Library plans to launch a multimillion-dollar fund-raising campaign for its proposed $85 million Visual and Performing Arts Library.
The campaign for the innovative Downtown Brooklyn library - the first in the city to combine visual and performing arts collections - aims to raise public and private money.
How the library will be funded once it opens its doors is an open question, officials conceded yesterday.
So far, the library has been awarded $10 million by the city for construction of an ultramodern, five-story facility. Designed by award-winning Mexican architect Enrique Norten, it is planned for Flatbush and Lafayette Aves.
"The next task is to raise $70 [million] to $85 million," said Brooklyn Public Library Executive Director Ginnie Cooper.
But critics questioned the idea of putting up an extravagant, specialized library at a time when budget cuts have meant that many borough branches have limited hours.
"I've consistently advocated that libraries in my district be open at least six [full] days [a week]," said City Councilwoman Letitia James, (WFP-Prospect Heights), "particularly in the areas where the literacy rate is low."
The Clinton Hill branch in her district - like many others in the borough - is closed Sundays and open only three full days each week.
She also said that officials have not explained how they will raise the funds to cover operating costs for the new library.
"It raises serious questions about [the new library] operating without government funds," the councilwoman said.
Some Brooklyn library users agreed.
"This library has been closed a lot," said Flatbush resident Paul Richardson of the Brooklyn Heights branch. "I would go for keeping this one open more and not having a new one at all."
But library officials defended the proposed new facility.
"We have to find new sources of revenue," said trustee Danny Simmons. "That doesn't mean we don't continue to expand."
Cooper said the funding concerns are real - and conceded that the proposed library might never be built.
"We hope we can do this," she said.
Cooper noted that more than 20,000 new apartments are planned for downtown Brooklyn in the next decade, adding, "We're going to have a huge influx of people to serve."
mgrace@nydailynews.com
Original Source Here
LIBRARY
DYNAMOS