What if the Library Gave a Party and No One Came?

Note: If you believe the following account contains inaccuracies, please report them to the sender, Robin Diener, Director, Library Renaissance Project, for correction: 387-8030, or 431-9254. Thank you.

What if the Library Gave a Party and No One Came?

Well, that’s what happened last night, more or less.

The invitees were ANC commissioners from districts with libraries under construction (We assume that would be Anacostia, Benning, Georgetown, Mt. Pleasant, Northeast, Shaw, and Tenley). The invitations were sent by certified mail. The event was billed as an effort to keep ANC’s informed of progress on building projects. (Failure to provide notice to ANC’s was one of the matters at issue in the Benning lawsuit.) The date, obviously, was high summer, when many people can be expected to be out of town. The time was 6:30 pm, when people are often engaged with dinner. The location was MLK Central Library. We do not know how much notice was given.

Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper hosted the event, assisted by Trustee President John Hill, Head of Capital Projects Jeff Bonvechio, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Archie Williams, and Outreach Coordinator for Construction Projects Martha Saccocio.

Only two invitees showed up, one from nearby Shaw and one from far Anacostia. Oddly, neither of them had actually received an invitation. They had learned of the event from the Library Renaissance Project that very day. A third attendee, Tony Harvey, reporter for the Intowner and leading local authority on libraries, was also tipped off by our Project.

The Library Renaissance Project was not invited. However, our representative Chris Otten, who heard about it through the grapevine, attended anyway. He was told by Williams that the event was for ANC Commissioners only -- four times. But Otten stood his ground. After the fourth attempt to pressure Otten to leave failed, Williams stood down.

If this seems petty and sad, that’s because it is. Enthusiasm and good will for what is unquestionably the most exciting civic project in decades is being squandered by the Chief Librarian and Library Trustees who refuse to engage the library’s true constituency – the public. DCPL has made substantial progress under Hill and Cooper’s leadership, but involving the public remains a weakness.

Suggestion: DCPL should try inviting the public-at-large, not just ANC commissioners, to a meeting about the progress of the new libraries -- easily enough done by sending a letter by regular mail to every holder of a DC library card, many of whom also have an email address on file with DCPL.

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Robin Diener
Director, DC Library Renaissance Project
387-8030
431-9254 cell

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