DISTRICT DYNAMOS: Libraries & Beyond

A very important meeting between DCPL and Ward Eight is held on June 3o, 2009 -- the community won't hear anything from DCPL for nearly two months.

Washington Highlands Library project timeline depicting a design process which has been almost completely pro-forma... with just the facade of community input.

Chief Cooper praises her work on building new buildings but can't explain how the new libraries will be staffed given the recent budget cuts and rise in library use.

Six big reasons why DCPL should renovate the current Washington Highlands Library building.

On March 26, 2009, many Ward One residents came out to hear what DCPL has done with the latest Mount Pleasant Library design plans.

On Wednesday, March 11, Mr. Archie Williams, Intergovernmental Liaison for DCPL, appeared before ANC-1A in Columbia Heights.

On Wednesday Evening, March 4, 2009, ANC-1C was surprised to see Mr. Archie Williams and Mr. Chris Wright of the DC Public Library.

The Board of Library Trustees meeting brings out many Ward One residents, among others.

Ward Eight residents see design images for the first time.

Councilmembers Mary M. Cheh and Kwame Brown sent a letter to Mayor Adrian Fenty indicating their opposition to the LCOR public private partnership for the Tenley/Janney site and their desire for construction of the library to begin immediately.

Letter containing ANC-1C resolution regarding the Mount Pleasant Library.

Report on Deputy Mayor's Office on Planning and Economic Development meetings with the West End community.

Chief Librarian Cooper started the meeting off with, "Tonight, you will see the library we are going to build." This was before any images were shown and before any public comments or questions.

The Shaw Library Study Group Agenda for the Best Library was delivered to Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper by hand.

The Greater Shaw community prioritized their remaining unaddressed concerns to help guide a discussion with DC Public Library leadership.

Outline of points where the community-input process has gaping holes and why many residents have been left out of the library transformations in Shaw, Tenleytown, Anacostia, and Benning.

It is tempting to let Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper do all the work now that she is here and proving very capable. Cooper, for her part, is anxious to respond to pent up desire for action by moving as rapidly as possible. But until useful processes of consultation are put in place, the public will have to be on guard, to monitor development, and to demand the best.

Over the fall of 2007, the Benning Dynamo collected or received a total of 218 surveys distributed by Dynamo volunteers to Ward 7 residents living around the library so to gather more input from the community in regards to the transformation of the Benning library.

On November 28, CM Harry Thomas, Chair of the Library Oversight Committee, hosted a hearing on the general oversight of DC's public library system (DCPL).

Report with notes showing why Ward 7 residents have been ignored and dismissed by the DC Public Library and Board of Library Trustees.

Several videos from the March 18, 2008 Benning Library design meeting.

On January 23, 2008, the Board of Library Trustees held a public meeting. This video highlights the last agenda item, the public comment period.

A list of links to videos showing various Benning Design meetings and other related meetings from 2007.

Jabari Zakiya of Empower DC calls into Kojo and Rosetta Barras on Friday, December 14, 2007. He asks Mayor Adrian Fenty a question about Public property. Fenty responds, "What ever is best for the City, is what you should do as Mayor."

The question of location has been elusive at Benning library design meetings in 2007.

On July 31, 2007, DCPL hosted the first meeting in 2007 with the public about the transformation of the Benning library.

On December 11, 2007, DCPL hosted another Benning library design meeting in a series of meetings to help plan the transformation of the Benning Library. Chief Librarian Cooper admits to dealing with City Interests about a possible property deal.

On November 1, 2007, DC Councilmember Kwame Brown chaired a hearing on the "Best Practices of Public-Private Partnerships". The Library Renaissance Project testified and heard a commitment against sole-source contracts.

On November 7, 2007, Councilmember Carol Schwartz says she wants a "longer and stronger" public process to first repurposing public land than surplussing it.

On July 10, 2007, the DC City Council ups the ante by discussing and voting on 44 pieces of emergency legislation at the last Council hearing of the summer.

Letter from the DC ACLU to DC Council Chairman Vincent Gray in regards to limiting use of 'emergency' legislation.

Video demonstrating John Hill's response about the West End Library deal.

Report about the West End Library rally on July 14, 2007.

Friends of the West End Library hold a public meeting hosting EastBanc, the developer looking to develop the parcel of land that the library currently sits on.

Text of the "Emergency resolution" passed by the DC City Council on July 10, 2007 which grants the land rights of a firehouse and library in the West End neighborhood to a private developer.

Letter penned by Ralph Nader and Robert Weissman to DC's Attorney General Linda Singer requesting answers to serious concerns around the "emergency legislation" granting land rights to public property to a private developer in the West End neighborhood.

The LEAD Act may be the latest DC Law to be obfuscated by the Mayor and City Council using "Emergency legislation" measures.

Library Dynamo Community Coordinator, Chris Otten, highlights the problems facing residents without libraries in Anacostia and Benning at the Ward 8 Town Hall meeting.

On March 28, 2007, Chief Ginnie Cooper hosted the grand opening of the interim Anacostia Library.

a new report from the American Library Association reveals some interesting statistics about the state of technology and the nation's libraries.

This report by the DC Library Renaissance Project is issued in response to the draft Blueprint for Change released, in January 2006, by the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of the DC Public Library System. Our report is critical of the draft Blueprint, but we acknowledge the good intentions of Task Force members, none of whom received remuneration for his or her efforts, and some of whom invested a lot of their time.

Several architectural and safety experts and preservationists have findings about DCPL's proposed plans.