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Councilor: Buildings occupied by libraries too valuable to just be used as libraries
By adamg on Tue, 10/21/2014 - 12:23pm
UPDATE: The Dorchester Reporter reports Baker doesn't want to rent out space in libraries but instead wants to look at how to include libraries in new mixed-use developments, such as the one that will eventually replace the Globe complex on Morrissey Boulevard.
City Councilor Frank Baker (Dorchester) will ask his fellow counselors tomorrow to consider the idea of turning some branch libraries into revenue generators by renting out space in them.
Meanwhile, two other counselors will demand a hearing into the way the BPL is run.
In a request for a hearing on his proposal, Baker says turning some branches into "mixed-use buildings" would provide revenue BPL could use to renovate and even expand the buildings and to support current service levels at branches that are "struggling financially and need major upgrades and improvements."
He adds:
Mixed use libraries propose the potential benefits of sharing space with other entities to help meet the needs of community residents; and mixed use libraries represent the opportunity for keeping the local library a vibrant and relevant part of the community.
Separately, Councilors Bill Linehan and Steve Murphy want a hearing to investigate "the leadership structure of the Boston Public Library including accountability and authorization of all finances."
In their hearing request, they say that while BPL President Amy Ryan and library trustees are appointed by the mayor, they "remain accountable to the taxpayers of Boston."
The Herald recently reported on a consulting contract Ryan gave to a former BPL librarian - who also happened to be her landlord. The Herald also reported Mayor Walsh was not liking the annual $20,000 bonuses Ryan is getting.
The council's meeting begins at noon in its fifth-floor chambers in City Hall.
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Comments
Who else can't wait to vote these guys out of office?
.
Yep.
Centre Street, West Roxbury could use another drive thru bank, pharmacy or funeral home.
Or
a pizza parlor!
Espresso's just closed last week
Lets hope another doesn't move in!
We need another nail salon.
We need another nail salon. What better way to get your pedi than while reading a free book?
Article?
I'd love to post an article about this for my "local government" class -- do you know if there's a news outlet covering it?
A news outlet, you say?
Here in the chopped-liver department, we don't tend to track what "news outlets" are up to, alas.
Outlets Often Feature Out-Of-Date Items Of Questionable Quality
Universal Hub is up-to-the-minute and always top notch.
Priorities
The news outlets are too busy with important stories like this:
http://www.boston.com/food-dining/food/2014/10/21/dunkin-donuts-addresse...
You should be able to get
Transcripts from the meeting regarding the proposal.
The Real Sheet [ ! ]
See also
The Real Sheet [ ! ] Newsletter of B.P.L.P.S.A. Boston Public Library Staff Association available at your neighborhood branch public library and central library departments' reference desks
http://bplpsa.info/
Real Sheet
Copies of the Real Sheet are not kept at branches.
The Real Sheet [ ! ] Newsletter
Branch librarians receive The Real Sheet [ ! ] Newsletter of the B.P.L.P.S.A. Boston Public Library Professionals Staff Association. Ask the Head of the Branch or ask for a copy by Interlibrary Loan.
The City Council Chambers
Is far to valuable to have it occupied by a group of overpaid part-time bums. We should rent it out!
Did Amy Ryan give a big bucks
Did Amy Ryan give a big bucks contract to her landlord to work for the BPL, after said landlord retired from a position at the BPL? I seem to remember reading something about this. Any info on that?
My mind is just a complete sieve sometimes
Yes, you did just read about that, as did I, only I completely forgot about it. I've added links in my original post to the Herald stories on the consulting contracts and Ryan's annual bonuses.
What's the current plan for the Chinatown Branch Public Library?
What's the current plan for the Chinatown Branch Public Library?... independent of the City Library Department !
Apparently a lot of places
Apparently a lot of places are doing it. Don't know if I agree with it though
Only a couple counselors there
He only asked the lawyers? Wu, Flaherty, and Zakim.
;-)
Libraries are important
Libraries are important meeting spaces in most communities, which is part of why it should be very inexpensive or free for members of the community to use that meeting space.
How about a Starbucks colocated with books
Kind of like Barnes & Noble does. Is that so bad?
Being a day center for the homeless and mentally ill really isn't bringing in any revenue.
You mean, a cafe in the library?
Portland is way ahead of you - coffee shop in the central branch. Been there for 10 or 15 years, but the money goes to the library.
Probably pays for the social worker they have to work with the down-and-out who still congregate there, even if they don't bring in revenue (smh).
Closer to home
Closer to home, the Watertown public library also has a cafe run by their friends group.
BPL in Copley Square has a cafe
and also a fancier sit-down restaurant next room over. They've been open for at least 5 years.
I'd like to see the cafe's hours extended, so that it is open whenever the library is.
Floor By Floor Boston City Hall, Boston Public Library Copley Sq
__________ ____________________
Floor By Floor Directories Boston City Hall, Boston Public Library Copley Square
http://anopenbostoncitycouncil.weebly.com/
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Floor By Floor Directory
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Floor By Floor Directories Boston City Hall, Boston Public Library Copley Square
http://anopenbostoncitycouncil.weebly.com/
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Floor By Floor Directories Boston City Hall, Boston Public Library Copley Square
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Sorry, Boston beat Portland
Sorry, Boston beat Portland to it! Copley Sq. location has a restaurant and a coffee and sandwich cafe. You can take your coffee into the courtyard which is quite lovely. You should check out Boston's main library branch sometime, swrrls!
May I suggest a MJ dispensary
May I suggest a MJ dispensary and a gun shop? The city seems to have demand for both.
Councilors, if you're so concerned
Councilors, if you're so concerned, how about donating your $20k raise to a branch library in your district?
Yeah, I thought not.
imagine what could have been done for Roslindale
My first reaction was that this sounded like a lame plan to open up a starbucks counter in the library, but then again, it does seem like we have these decrepit facilities sitting in prime locations and if we wait on public money to renovate them, it is unlikely to ever happen. What if, instead of building that structure next to the Roslindale library, the whole block could have been rebuilt? What if a large part of the library public space could have been reallocated in a way that made it usable when the library was not open? What if public meeting spaces were available after hours, rentable or freely reservable for community organizations?
I think if you set up rules that required significant public space and included community input, this could be a great strategy to create a new multi-use space that serves both community needs and makes a profit. You could sip your starbucks while sitting indoors on a bench while you wait in line for the social security office to open :)
Community Center
It's not quite as nice as what you've described, but the Roslindale CC offers a community meeting spaces one block away so this seems redundant.
I can't reconcile the idea of having the library stacks with the interspersed desks with your vision of after hours public access, unless the books will be segregated in a secure way from the meeting space, which is a bit contrary to how most local libraries are structure.
I will agree that the SSA building is a bummer to look at, but it's better than an unused gas station I suppose.
shared space
What I am thinking of is that there could be like an indoor atrium that was open longer hours and perhaps the book area could be closed off with a floor to ceiling roll-down barrier. It would not be 24x7 access. This area could serve as food court seating, wifi access, public presentation/performance space, etc. Then you could also have automated self-checkout and checkin (this is very cool--a drop box leads to conveyer belt that scans and sorts books). Just brainstorming--lots of issues to contend with--but it would be interesting to find creative ways for libraries to evolve and not simply think of them as old buildings full of books that are open for limited hours.
Yes, the RCC is a great building too...there's a ton of potential around there including the substation, of course. But absent a massive public donation/fundraising campaign, it would take some creative profit-motivated development to come up with the money to really build something cool. I'm just saying it's worth considering possibilities.
Since Baker Runs the BPL and the Unions ...
... it'll be no problem to get them to agree to operate a space like this.
This kind of a proposal was considered when they closed Washington Village and there was a brand new community center being built in the Old Colony development. It was a non-starter with the BPL. The BPL won't take on new operating costs (and I don't blame them). We need to focus on preserving what we have before because "considering the possibilities" means commissioning consultants to do a multi-million feasibility study that goes nowhere and the city already has more than enough of these.
An no messy buildings to worry about
And when the city wants to close it, it's as easy as breaking a lease!
Why is this either-or?
Why is this either-or?
The south end library is a 2 story bldg on a lot worth millions. If we could replace it with a 5 story building: both add housing and let the revenue help fund our libraries, that seems like a great (potential) idea.
That said, the library head awarding contracts to her landlord demands transparency NOW. TALK ABIUT A SITUATION OF 'where there's smoke'.
Finally, Adam, great job covering local news. Thank you.
Same for Beacon Hill/West End
The Beacon Hill branch is built like a suburban library on a lot worth millions. Very poor land use when considering the value. You could easily (from a land use point of view; community meetings would probably halt things) replace the building with a better library and have revenue generating real estate above it.
either-or
I sent this from a cell-phone earlier and I apologize that my writing was poor. To re-phrase, the South End library is a 2 story bldg, with the books on the lower floor, and a Community Meeting room on Floor 2. The meeting room is pretty busy- it's a great resource in the community.
If we could get a new building with 2 floors of Library (the meeting room could potentially even go in the basement), then 3 or 4 floors of housing, and have the housing subsidize the library, that seems like a huge win-win. What's to dislike about it?
PS- the librarian letting contracts to her landlord sounds like it should automatically be sent to the IG. Definitely sounds shady, even if somehow legal.
Too busy to fight these proposals ...
... so I hope someone educates Mr. Baker on the public backlash this will cause. This comment board is evidence for that.
And yes, kudos to Adam for picking this up!
Here are some things wrong with Mr. Baker's proposal:
1.) "Some of the libraries" - there is only 1 library, the Boston Public Library - this is not Minuteman
2.) "the many issues facing our libraries" - yes, we have weeded out so many books that now there is a ton of space we need to rent out
3.) Public libraries do not continue to evolve into centers of community gathering and learning, they got there sometime around 1850
4.) The number of times the word "community" appears in a proposal is not a measure of how strong the proposal is
5.) It hurts my brain to continue to take the opportunity to propose the potential problems with this vibrant convoluted community proposal that has become so integrated into the electronic web community with the driving of comments from this posting
Keep up the good comments!
Compare http://savenypl.org
Compare
http://www.savenypl.org/the-plan/
http://www.local1930.org/
Tom Menino learned to leave the libraries alone
and I suspect the current city councilors and Mayor Walsh will soon learn the same lesson. Menino wanted to close a bunch of branches, but the only thing that actually happened was replacing two old East Boston branches with one new branch.
Digitize Boston City Council Library/Archives.
1) Digitization. Boston City Council Library.
Digitize some of the Collections/Archives of the Boston City Council's Library/Archives. Neglected for too long, Boston City Council's Library needs to be more open and available for all interested in municipal affairs and local history.
2) Records Management.
Records Management/Archiving practices at Boston City Council need to be updated.
3) Council Communications.
Communications of Boston City Council need to be updated with more interactive mechanisms. For example posting the a) Full Transcript of Captions for hard of hearing/deaf from Webcasts of Public Meetings and the b) Stenograph Record making it easier to send response to Councilors' remarks in the Public Meeting with feedback, comment, suggestions, questions.
Technologies in the hands of folks, at home and at branch public libraries offer opportunities to improve City Council Communications and Council interactivity including previously sidelined hard of hearing/deaf folks, ESL English as a Second Language folks, concussion recovery folks, tinnitus ringing in the ears, stroke recovery, folks with cognitive difficulty, dyslexic, attention deficit, elderly, folks in city neighborhoods far afield of City Hall, Hyde Park folks, Mattapan folks, Orient Heights folks, folks with difficulty to tolerate uncomfortable public seating in the Council Chamber.
Election campaigns of Boston City Councilors would benefit having this Public Record more readily available to all interested in interacting with Councilors. More open Boston City Council practices improve municipal balance of power!
Despite what the proposal seems to say ...
Just updated my post with a link to a Dorchester Reporter article, in which Baker says he's not thinking about how to rent out space in existing libraries but how to include libraries in new mixed-use developments, such as the one that will probably replace the Globe offices and printing press on Morrissey Boulevard. He doesn't say how that will lead to the additional revenue his proposal calls for, though.
Nice way of saying Baker is spinning already?
Is that a nice way of saying Baker is spinning this story already?
It was a good idea back in 2010 when they closed Washington Village and it seemed like a no-brainer to replace the branch with a space in the Old Colony re-development. The library's excuse then, as it would be now, is that they don't have the personnel to support a new branch and don't have the money to put into operating a new branch.
This is not about new branches, it's about generating revenue and moving public libraries out of public spaces and into leased privates spaces that can be abandoned as needed without leaving a vacant building/lot behind for the city to deal with. Baker's first point in in his order for a hearing on "opportunity for sustainability of Boston Public Branch Libraries" is that "some libraries" are "struggling financially" (as if they aren't part of a single library system). And the stated purpose of the hearing is "to explore the possibility of renovating or rebuilding libraries ... in an effort to increase visibility and access and generate revenue." The purpose is not to see how the BPL might expand - it's to see how to make it leaner and pull some financial weight.
So, which branch is he proposing to close so that he can "rebuild" it in Savin Hill?
Sounds like
Ruth Kowal knows what she's doing. She ran Administration and Finance at the BPL for quite some time and consults to other library systems. She sounds experienced and knowledgeable. Who wouldn't want that for our library system? But I agree that someone should vet this for possible ethics violations (if she is/was landlord of library director).
Parking garages
Everyone knows the City can use more parking. Most libraries are centrally located so tear them down and build 3-4 story parking garages with one floor being used as a library.
Just like the Eastern Bank at Back Bay Station ....
... everyone's favorite, must-see Boston landmark.
or the Central Square branch of the Cambridge library
That's built into a parking garage, and I find it quite uninviting by comparison to just about any other Cambridge library branch.
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