Report Urges DCPL Revamp

$450M overhaul would replace half the collection, build new central

By Lynn Blumenstein & Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 2/15/2006

$450M overhaul would replace half the collection, build new central The Mayor's Task Force on the Future of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System released a draft report January 17 that calls for a “dramatically overhauled public library system for the 21st century,” including a replacement of half the collection, a new central library, and major branch renovations. The 37-page report doesn't address how to raise the more than $450 million needed to fix DCPL's problems, but task force members said it would take a mix of public and private funds. The report is available at www.dclibrary.org.

The D.C. Library Renaissance Project (DCLRP), a library advocacy group started by Ralph Nader, criticized the task force for releasing the study before meeting with the community, according to the Washington Post.

A new central library building would cost an estimated $280 million, with a three-year construction period, not including site acquisition costs in the area of the old D.C. Convention Center. Though Mayor Anthony Williams backs a new building, some in the city want to renovate the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The improvements to branch libraries have a price tag of about $167 million.

Rebuilding the collection

The report contained some sobering observations: the library does not send out overdue notices, and current records do not reliably account for what is actually in the collection. It would cost $3.4 million over three yeras to rebuild the collection. Other investments include upgraded technology; the task force estimates another 400 Internet-accessible computers are needed.

The task force also advocates six key service priorities to revitalize the library system: basic literacy; best sellers and materials on hot topics; homework-help resources; training and instruction in information literacy and research/oral presentation skills; lifelong learning; and the provision of inviting and safe public spaces for meetings, programs, and gatherings.