Library Project Questions

Good afternoon District 6,

While this is not a meeting week – council meets the first and third Wednesday of the month, so a fifth Wednesday is a week off for the full council and for committees – a question has come up that I feel I need to address more generally.

A couple of constituents asked me over the weekend about a social media post that took issue with the amount of opportunity for public input about the new library project and I got an email yesterday from a constituent who did not believe that the community had enough opportunity for input. I confess that I have not seen the post – I did a brief search today and failed to find it.

However, I did want to make sure that everyone was aware that the library website has a page devoted to the building project:

https://apl.org/building/

Monthly updates on the project are posted here, along with other relevant information.

As far as public input goes, there have been multiple opportunities for the public to be involved with the project.

There were budget listening sessions in both 2020 and 2021, ahead of the implementation of the 2021 and 2022 city budgets where funds were allocated for the library project.

In May of 2021, the city sought applications for the Library Building Project Advisory Committee. Full disclosure: I applied to be part of the Advisory Committee but was not selected. The committee represents a broad range of the community, including members of a group whose members regularly testify against projects they feel are wasteful spending.

In August of 2021, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill presented a conceptual design at a meeting which was open to the community. I attended and heard a number of people ask questions and express their views about the design.

In September of 2021, focus group sessions were held with various groups within the community. Attendance at these sessions was encouraged to the point of holding a drawing for a gift card for anyone who attended.

Another round of focus group sessions was held in November of 2021, these aimed at parents/caregivers and at teens.

Meetings of the Library Board are public, and citizens are welcome to attend and to sign up to comment on agenda items.

Finally, the building project page has a link where citizens can offer feedback or ask questions:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=jLojKuQswESjS31hUIs8N6KDyfau_SJElTVokvdKCDZUNkRTM0ROMkVIN1FYWjlOMkU1SlJIVlFVWCQlQCN0PWcu

There is also a place to sign up to get regular email project updates:

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/J6hxHFb/buildingemail

And there is a Frequently Asked Questions section:

https://apl.org/building/faq/

Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions.

 

 

 

 



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