We know how cities like Chicago have used libraries as anchors for urban development, as this article about Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey shows. The lesson has also been learned in Medellín, Colombia, as the New York Times reported yesterday in an article today headlined Medellín’s Nonconformist Mayor Turns Blight to Beauty. Mayor Sergio Fajardo has "hired renowned architects to design an assemblage of luxurious luxurious and other public buildings in this city’s most desperate slums." In other words, an investment in civic engagement rather than a more narrow focus limited to public safety, seems to be a wise idea.

Indeed, as the Times reported, the murder rate has dropped by a factor of about 13 since the peak year of 1991: "Now, Medellín is no longer stymied by being described as the world’s deadliest city."

Five new libraries are parts of the Parques Biblioteca concept: "library parks" for education, recreation, and culture. In the slum of Santo Domingo Savio, with a population of 170,000, the Parque Biblioteca España "includes a library, auditorium, Internet rooms, day care center, and an art gallery," the Times noted. "Such a beautiful thing, right here with us," observed one resident. "Who could have imagined that?"