140: The number of days that Webber Park Library has been closed, as of this writing.
The number of days until Webber Park Library reopens.
The number of children who participated in the Webber Park Library Summer Reading Program in 2006.
The projected number of children who will participate in the Webber Park Summer Reading Program in 2007.
I remember the first time my children signed up for the Summer Reading Program at Webber Park Library. They were so excited to get their bookmarks, book bags, reading logs and of course, the books! My son, with his plastic library card not unlike a bankcard, felt like a businessman. For my daughter the books were like candy. As her hungry mind devoured the books, she reveled in the prizes and accolades. She reached the 10 book goal early in the summer and was awarded a coveted prize; a free ticket to the State Fair. She hung onto that ticket as if it were a gold nugget, until the end of the summer. She presented it to the gate keeper, beaming with pride. She had earned the entrance fee all by herself and for a 10 year old it was a pretty heady experience. She is 13 now and still loves to read, but it is unlikely she or the other neighborhood children will be a part of the Webber Park Summer Reading Program this year.
It seems likely that the “friendly takeover,” as Commissioner Opat has referred to it, will happen. Mayor R.T. Rybak says, “This unification will create a premier library system that maximizes the best of Minneapolis and Hennepin County libraries. A unified system would also bring more stable funding to sustain the world class library system that Minneapolis and Hennepin County deserve.” Rybak has proposed budgeting an additional $2.1 million to reopen the three closed libraries and another $500,000 from the city’s capital budget for library building improvements and renovations. However, this money is only available, if the consolidation happens.
The Minneapolis Library Trustees, City Council, Rybak, Hennepin County Board, Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library and the StarTribune all recommend the consolidation as the only feasible way to avoid further library closures. The Friends website states, “…all parties are committed to a consolidation in which there are no layoffs, no loss of accumulated benefits and no loss of total wages.” The City Council passed a resolution pledging the Minneapolis Public Library employees will not suffer a loss of wages in a consolidation. On May 16 Minneapolis library employees, represented by AFSCME, agreed to a proposal in which wage disparity would be made up with a lump sum payment by the City. The State Legislature House Taxes Committee passed legislation, enabling the creation of a new Library Advisory Board, setting the stage for the consolidation. If the library merger bill receives full support of the House and Senate, the consolidation could be in place by January 2008.
Even with the support of a consolidation and the $2.1 million to reopen the closed libraries, Webber Park Library will have the worst hours of any library in the City. Webber Park Library would be reopened at 20 hours per week, compared to 24 hours at Roosevelt and Southeast, and 40 hours at all other branch libraries. In fact, the closing of Webber Park Library has paid for additional hours at other branch libraries. The money saved from closing Webber, Southeast and Roosevelt freed up dollars which were used to increase hours at other branch libraries.
Some library advocates are not in favor of the consolidation process as it is happening. Cheryl Luger, founder of Save Our Urban Libraries (SOUL), is concerned about the lack of public input and the haste with which the consolidation is moving forward, especially considering an elected board would be eliminated without a citizen vote. Stephen Campagnola, an activist who fought tirelessly to keep Webber Park Library open, said of the consolidation, “I think it’s interesting that a lot of the grumbling that we’re hearing is not based on direct opposition to the merger. No one is actually disagreeing with the position that the lack of a merger may result in further cuts. What we are hearing is pleadings that the merger process respect the rights of the workers and the citizens of Minneapolis by slowing it down and allowing an honest, fair hearing before the people of Minneapolis. People feel that they must have a say in this now and the Library Board must speak up now because after the merger goes into effect there will be no elected Minneapolis Library Board.”
In the meantime, Webber Park Library remains closed in a community where resources are scarce. There is hope for the Webber Park Library’s reopening, but nobody is willing to commit to a date. Jane Eastwood, MPL Director of External Relations and Partnerships, has said that Webber Library’s future is tied up in the consolidation with the Hennepin County Library system. That is now well known: Webber, Roosevelt and Southeast Libraries are being held ransom for $2.1 million from the City and a consolidated library system. It might even be a ransom worth paying; so why not open Webber Park Library now and trust the people to support the consolidation? On his website, Commissioner Mike Opat says of Northside people, “We don’t ask for much. We don’t get much.” Wouldn’t it be nice if it were different this time?