Today’s July 1st, which marks the beginning of a new fiscal year at the library.  What that means exactly is sort of up for debate; last year library administrators said they wanted a written contract with the city about what services they’d be providing, but then they spent the whole year refusing to agree to anything.

If they don’t sign an agreement soon, the backup plan is to close five branches, in Smith Hill and Olneyville and Wanskuck and Elmwood and Fox Point.  And that’s not counting the Washington Park library, the closed branch that the city just spent Lord knows how much money on, adding a new roof and cleaning out ten years’ worth of mold and dead pigeons; the library administration, for whatever crazy reason, is refusing to reopen the branch, preferring to keep limited services in half of the old Benny’s down the street.

Also very vulnerable is the Fox Point branch, which is the only one of the (open) libraries currently operating on a lease.  The building, on the corner of Wickenden and Ives, isn’t in the best shape–it’s dark and unattractive and not accessible to the handicapped and if anybody tested the air they’d probably find something unsafe about it–but it’s a vital part of the neighborhood, staffed by knowledgeable and friendly people, and it would be a shame if the library decided not to renew their lease without making alternate plans for all the kids, families and senior citizens that use the branch every day.

Tags: Library, nonsense, ppl, washington park

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