Library News

Library Chief Pushes for New Building

Williams Urges Council to Construct Facility at Old Convention Center Site

By Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 28, 2006; B01

When Adrian M. Fenty met with New York officials last week to talk about school reform, he said they casually mentioned with pride their city's improved library system as "another place where we can get some good ideas."

Fenty, expected to become the city's Democratic mayor after the Nov. 7 election, said the District has already taken a page from that book: It lured away the former director of the Brooklyn, N.Y., public library.

"I'm really excited about the hiring of Ginnie Cooper," said Fenty, the Ward 4 council member. "She has a strong reputation. It's a good time to get new dynamic leadership."

Cooper, along with Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), testified yesterday during the third public hearing since legislation was introduced in May to authorize the construction of a new central library at the old convention center site on Ninth Street NW, near the current facility.

The council's Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation, led by council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), is weighing the options. Several advocates want to renovate the historic Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G St. NW, but the mayor and library officials want to replace it and lease the building.

But Cooper, like the mayor, is clear on what she'd like to see. Cooper said she's been involved in 50 to 60 library building projects in a career spanning three decades, including construction of a library in Alameda County, Calif., and restoration of the central library in Portland, Ore.

"My choice would be to build a new library on the old convention center site," Cooper said in an interview. "We could do some things with less space. This is a humongous building with lots of empty space."

At the hearing, Williams said he wants a state-of-the-art facility in the city's revitalized downtown and called for passage of legislation before his term ends in January.

"The bottom line is that we are at a critical moment where we must act decisively and affirmatively to move forward," Williams said. "Failure to approve the legislation . . . puts at risk the momentum behind our efforts."

Cooper said the mayor's efforts and a vow by the library trustees board to "transform" the system enticed her to the District, which has 27 facilities, several so badly deteriorated that Fenty called it "a shame."

Cooper left her Brooklyn job this summer, 18 months before the end of her five-year contract. She started in mid-July at a salary of $205,000, $13,000 less than her salary in New York but $83,000 more than the District's former executive director, Molly Raphael.

"I've chosen jobs that were challenging because," she paused, "why do the work, if it's not going to be challenging and have a payoff? If I know it's going to be easy, I'd get bored."

Cooper is not likely to get bored in the District anytime soon.

City officials said four neighborhood branches were closed nearly two years ago, and annoyed residents have yet to get promised new facilities. Library advocates are growing impatient waiting for the release of a task force report that has been promised "in two weeks" for several months. Morale is low among the staffers who complain of poor ventilation, broken elevators and unruly homeless visitors, officials said.

The debate over whether to build or renovate the library was fueled last month when Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi said, either way, the construction costs are likely to be $275 million, $61 million more than estimated originally.

Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), who is opposed to using the convention center's prime downtown location for a library, introduced a third option -- using the old Carnegie Library between New York and Massachusetts avenues NW.

"I do not want to use the old convention center site, which is such a valuable piece of property, to put a public service on there that doesn't raise any funds," Schwartz said. "That is penny-wise, pound-foolish."

But a feasibility study found the Carnegie Library is not large enough and lacks parking and any proposed renovations would have adverse affects on its century-old trees.

As the debate continues about the main library, some residents in neighborhoods where the four branches are closed -- Anacostia, Benning, Shaw and Tenleytown -- are rallying to pressure public officials to take action.

Eddie Rhodes, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Northeast Washington, said his constituents plan to protest a proposal to build apartments over the new Benning library.

"We don't want housing to be a part of it," Rhodes said. "We would rather see the old library reopened."

Rhodes said he hopes Cooper will listen to the residents because they are "very passionate about libraries. The library is associated with being a safe and quiet place."

John W. Hill Jr., president of the library trustees board, said that Cooper has moved swiftly to station four new bookmobiles in communities with closed libraries. Cooper said libraries are now open on Sundays, wireless Internet access is available and hundreds of new computers are being installed.

"We're thrilled to have her here," Hill said. "She's getting things done, firmly taking control of the library."

The test will be whether Cooper can persuade residents that a new facility is needed. A similar effort in Brooklyn failed.

Robin Diener, director of the Library Renaissance Project, a local advocacy group, said Cooper's job in the District will demand community input.

"If she's going to be distracted by building buildings, and if we don't include the community, then there's going to be a lot of hostility," Diener said. "That is going to make moving forward more time-consuming than it needs to be."

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