Library News

At Rally, a Plea to Reopen Anacostia Library


At Rally, a Plea to Reopen Anacostia Library

By Jillian Jarrett
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page DZ03

Community leaders, parents and students gathered at the public library branch in Anacostia last week to demand that it be reopened immediately.

The rally, sponsored by the D.C. Library Renaissance Project, brought together supporters from across the city to call for resurrecting the branch, which has been closed for nearly two years. Children painted banners and posters, adults served food and drinks, and several people took turns at the microphone.

Monique and Kyndall Brown, students at Anne Beers Elementary School, read poems that drew rousing applause. Monique, a fourth-grader whose poem was titled "My Favorite Place," said she misses her neighborhood library.

"Children can't go to read books and do homework," she said. "You can't use computers."

Four of the District's 27 libraries have been closed since December 2004: the Anacostia, Benning, Tenley-Friendship and Shaw branches. Officials said they closed the libraries because the buildings were in dire need of reconstruction. The structures were to be demolished and rebuilt, but plans were halted last year to incorporate design changes recommended by a task force appointed by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).

Shaw residents held a rally a few weeks ago to protest the closing of their neighborhood branch, the Watha T. Daniel Library.

Robin Diener, a representative of the Renaissance Project, said her group wants a commitment to rebuilding the neighborhood libraries that is not dependent on a new central library. The group also is calling for a process of community involvement that ensures residents' wishes are not disregarded.

Former mayoral candidate Michael Brown said the city has managed the library system poorly. He called it one of the worst in the country.

"It's a priority issue. If we can spend $600 million on a stadium, we can build a library," he said during the rally. "We need to promote literacy and education and let our young folks know we care."

Monica Lewis, a library system spokeswoman, said the branches have been closed for too long. She said initial construction plans were scrapped once the D.C. Council had allocated funding because officials wanted to make sure they were building the most technologically advanced structures.

"Mayor Williams has designated $170 million for fiscal year 2007 through 2012 and created the Blue Ribbon Task Force, which has researched first-rate libraries around the country to use as models," she said.

The libraries' new executive director, Ginnie Cooper, said that within two weeks, bookmobiles will be stationed at the closed locations. The bookmobiles have eight computers with Internet access and books for adults and children. They will be open five days a week: Monday through Thursday and on Saturday.

Cooper also said that, before the end of this year, four 4,000-square-foot, full-service interim libraries will be opened.

These interim services can't come fast enough for residents who see libraries as one of the answers to keeping children off the streets and out of trouble. Emmanuel Lewis, 17, a student at Anacostia Senior High School, said libraries are a good place for young people to be in a sometimes dangerous neighborhood.

"When they start shooting, you don't have to worry because you're in the library and can stay safe," he said.

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