Below is a open letter to Cheif Librarian Ginnie Cooper hand delivered to her staff on September 2, 2008. It was delivered by Shaw Library Study Group participants and Director of the Library Renaissance Project, Robin Diener.
1530 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202 387-8030
Delivered by hand and email
Ginnie Cooper
Chief Librarian, DC Public Library
Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library
901 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
September 2, 2008
Dear Chief Cooper:
With all due respect for the accomplishments of your administration in improving the District’s public library services, 1 the DC Library Renaissance Project joins with others in finding the process of public input under your supervision to be inadequate and insincere -- a far cry from the “model process” promised by the Board of Library Trustees -- and a failure to fulfill the promise for our libraries to serve as centers for community and to foster the free flow of information.
The DC Public Library has long been on notice that public input to planning was poorly handled in the past. In 2004, planning processes for new libraries produced problematic designs that were eventually canceled.2 In 2006, Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher characterized as “cynical ventures”3 ten community “listening sessions” organized by the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Libraries. Our Library Project has consistently advocated that public inclusion in planning be improved, and warned that DCPL plans were identical to what was done in 2004.4 In addition, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in Wards 1, 2 and 7 have passed resolutions criticizing the DCPL process.
Therefore, we respectfully ask that you respond in full to the questions below, all of which have been put to you before in some form at Board of Library Trustees meetings or community design meetings, and some posted but not answered on the DCPL website.5 We ask that you commit to embark upon a process of genuine public consultation that has as its goal to include as many interested residents as possible. We ask that special attention be given to including young people, as is done in other jurisdictions6 -- teens are a critical target group for DCPL -- and seniors -- one of the library’s largest user groups. Both groups are vulnerable populations in need of the best possible public services.
We understand and appreciate the sense of urgency you bring, but after this protracted delay, it is all the more important that the new Watha T. Daniel/Shaw library be done right. While we are glad to see the glass returned to the design of the Shaw library, the public requires not just an updated exterior, but a set of truly 21st Century library features, services and programs to meet the needs of Districts residents. The library as currently planned does not fulfill that vision. We ask you to do better for us.
Further, we demand that you actively correct the idea that delay is the fault of District residents, often stated by Ward Two Councilmember Jack Evans and most recently agreed to by you on a Kojo Nnamdi radio broadcast.7 In September 2005, nine months after closing and emptying the libraries, acting unilaterally and without consulting with the public, the Board of Library Trustees cancelled the 2004 publicly funded and vetted plans (at a cost of $3.5 million). At the listening sessions of the Mayor’s Task Force on Libraries in 2006, citizens asked repeatedly that the four closed libraries be reopened since the plans for new ones had been thrown away and new ones were nowhere on the horizon. At the time, DCPL did not even have a permanent director.
In a DCPL press release dated October 24, 2005 announcing the cancellation of the original designs for the four libraries including WTD/Shaw branch, residents were assured that “building designs and the library programs will conform to the needs articulated by each community.”8 We ask that the following needs articulated by the Shaw community be addressed in the design and programs of the new library. Attached is a list of questions related to these needs. We request that explanations be supplied in writing with documentation on September 4 at the design meeting.
Sincerely yours,
Robin Diener
cc: Mayor Adrian Fenty
John Hill and Board of Library Trustees
Councilmember Harry Thomas and Library Committee members
Councilmembers Jack Evans, Mary Cheh, and Tommy Wells
List of Questions
1. Plans in Advance
Why aren’t plans for the new Shaw library posted to the DCPL website in advance of design meetings with the public? How can the public be expected to digest plans and meaningfully comment upon them, without reviewing them?
We have asked throughout the design process that DCPL post changes to designs prior to holding design meetings, instead of unveiling them for the first time at the meetings. We understand from ANC Commissioner Alex Padro that you and architect Peter Cook have already shown updated plans to him and to CM Jack Evans.
Please immediately post to the DCPL website all revised drawings and narrative detailing the building program of the Watha T. Daniel Shaw Neighborhood Library. If the architect’s oral and written presentations are inseparable, as you have stated, then DCPL must supply another opportunity to discuss them with the public. The meeting of September 4 has been advertised by DCPL as a “final” meeting. At this late date, an additional meeting is inevitable and should be scheduled.
2. Budget
Residents have asked repeatedly to see a line item budget. Reports to the Board of Library Trustees cite a budget of $15.7 million,9 while articles in the local press quote the Chief Librarian as working from a $9 million budget.10 Knowing the relative costs of features will help residents to better evaluate their priorities and contribute solutions. The public can persuade DC Council for additional resources if needed, provided the public has the opportunity to understand the constraints and priorities.
1)Was the design presented in the January 2008 meeting within budget?
2)If so, how much was it under budget (excluding contingencies)
3)What was the amount of that budget?
4)If not, how much over budget and why was an overbudget project presented to the public (excluding construction contingencies)
5)How much is the current design (as shown on the website) under budget (excluding construction contingencies)
6)What is the difference in cost between the January design and the June design?
7)What is the Metro system problem as relates to the new building ? The former WTD/Shaw library had a basement. What has Metro changed that would impact the design?
3. Green Roof
Will the new WTD/Shaw library have a green roof? What is the budget impact of a green roof? Has a green roof “demonstration project” been considered and the cost analyzed? If so, what would be the budget impact of a demonstration project? How does a green roof impact LEED certification?
Local residents want a green roof for the new WTD/Shaw Library. According to our research, a green roof itself should be a relatively minor cost,11 especially when considered against the possible long term energy savings and water quality improvements green roofs produce. A green roof “demonstration project” would cost more but should also be considered. It would allow the very building itself to contribute to the library’s educational mission.
4. Café
Was an analysis done of the feasibility of a café for the WTD/Shaw library? We also understand that a café was under consideration for the Southwest library. Was an analysis done for SW?
The Mayor’s Citizen Summit on Libraries in 2005 found that the number one citizen outcome hoped for from the transformation of libraries was that libraries would serve as centers for community. The same request emerged from the listening sessions. Cafés were among the things mentioned that would contribute to a welcoming environment and community gathering space. The residents of Shaw have asked for a café or coffee shop to be featured in their new library. You have consistently maintained that one would not make fiscal sense for Shaw. President of the Mt. Vernon Citizens Association Cary Silverman asked for a report,12 which he has never received.
5. Adult Literacy
How will DCPL implement the recommendations of the report of the Mayor’s Adult Literacy Council, to be released momentarily according to Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso? How will programming for adult literacy be reflected in the building program for the new WTD/Shaw library?
6. Computers
Many new branch libraries being built today have dedicated computer training classroom space, in addition to flexible meeting rooms.13 Why is DC not providing such space in the new WTD/Shaw library? What best practices support this decision? How many public use computers will the new library have? How does that compare with the interim library where the computers are always busy?
7. Space for Senior Programming
How will senior library user needs be accommodated in the building program plan? For instance, there do not appear to be adequate restroom facilities on the first floor.
8. Security
How will security be provided in the new WTD/Shaw library? Will there be a full time security presence? Will there be a prominent security desk with cameras to monitor the three levels? If so, where will it be located? What takes place in the staff workroom on the entrance level? Why is it so large? It appears to be separated from the public areas by a wall. How will staff monitor the public space? In what ways does the new WTD/Shaw library use the lessons learned from the interim library that Chief Cooper has mentioned? How tall will the bookcases be on the first and second floors? Can the architects produce a computer generated “flyover” of site lines for the new library?
9. Ratio of Staff Space to Program Space
Is there an industry standard for branch urban libraries of 20,000 sq. feet? Is there an industry standard or DC standard of FTE per sq. foot.? How many FTE’s will the new WTD/Shaw library have to support it?
10. Original Building Footprint
What was the footprint and floorplan of the original WTD/Shaw library building? In thinking about the new WTD/Shaw library, was an analysis done of a street level building without basement with a second and third level versus a two story building with a basement (as currently planned)? What was the budget impact?
11. Local members of Architect Selection Panel
Which two members of the public served on the architect selection panel for the new WTD/Shaw library?
12. Strategic Plan
Does DCPL have a strategic plan? Where is it published? How does the WTD/Shaw library fit into an overall DCPL strategic plan?
See Original Letter as PDF with footnotes here