City loses library representation

by Dennis Geisinger

All eight trustees of the Minneapolis Public Library Board and most of the City Council gathered in the atrium of the downtown Central Library the evening of Nov. 7 to bid a fond farewell to the city’s library system as it is has existed for at least half a century.

Advertised as a public hearing about the consolidation of the Minneapolis and Hennepin County library systems, the merger has already been approved by government overseers including the City Council, library board, mayor’s office, county board and state Legislature—making it, as City Council Vice President Robert Lilligren (DFL-Ward 6) said before calling the meeting to order, “pretty much a done deal.”

Nearly 100 citizens showed up to make comments in the open forum of the event and marked its almost funereal feeling, prompting Council Member and former MPLB Trustee Diane Hofstede (DFL-Ward 3) to observe, “a sense of almost hopelessness.”

“A lot of people said, ‘It’s done—what’s the point?’” testified Minneapolis resident Steve Petermeier. “This was a less open process than we had during the planning for the new Walker,” he said.

“A referendum on funding the city’s libraries would have been another direction to go,” said Council Member Cam Gordon (Green-Ward 2) in an interview earlier in the week. “It would have been an interesting campaign to watch—funding for the [new Twins] stadium or for libraries. Maybe I’m just being a romantic, but I think that Minneapolis residents would have voted for funding libraries,” he continued.

“I don’t believe in government by referendum,” said Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin (District 4). “Just look at California, where they have a referendum about just about everything, and what a mess that is,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin, who also had a strong hand in implementing the countywide tax for funding the new downtown ballpark, was pivotal in putting together the library consolidation after “following the problems of the Minneapolis library system and after [he] was approached by members of the city library board. It was important that we acted quickly,” he said.

“I think that it would have been healthy to have more time to explore alternatives,” said Gordon. “City residents could have gotten a better deal. The city is handing over some great assets.”

According to the city’s finance department, the assets are worth some $220 million. And, according to the bill enabling the merger, which was passed during the last legislative session, after Minneapolis transfers “all interests and titles” to Hennepin County, it will be required to contribute $7.8 million in operating funds for the first year and and an equal amount declining by $780,000 each year for ten years after the merger. The city will also pay the full bill to extend hours of operation of city libraries for the first three years of the merger and a declining amount of the same bill for another five years.

“All for the want of one vote and $250,000,” Hofstede said, referring to the City Council’s failure earlier this year to find one more necessary vote and the additional funds to extend the life of the city library system at least until year’s end.

After the two systems have consolidated, the MPLB will be dissolved and the Hennepin County Library Advisory Board will be increased from seven to eleven members with three seats filled by applying MPLB members until their terms expire in 2009, according to current Minneapolis Public Library Director Katherine Hadley. When the city seats have expired, they will be chosen at large in county elections.

“It hasn’t been established whether there’ll be any City representation on the County Advisory Board down the road,” said Gordon. “My concern is five, ten, 20 years down the road. The county board is from the suburbs. It’s where they get the majority of their funding,” Gordon said.

“There seems to be a lack of representation for Minneapolis residents going on as the years after the merger progress,” said MPLB Trustee Laura Waterman Wittstock. “I can just see if our libraries need something and two-thirds of the voters live outside Minneapolis,” Wittstock said.

“The further away you get from your funding, the less control you have,” said Minnesota House Minority Leader Marty Seifert (R-Marshall). “I don’t see people living in the suburbs having a lot of interest in a community library in Minneapolis,” Seifert said.

Concerns were also expressed by some city residents at the meeting about the lack of racial representation on the County Library Board, especially looking to the future.

“Diversity is something that has to be considered when you’re talking about what kind of material the libraries are going to buy,” said Minneapolitan Ronald Edwards.

“There is a definite lack of people of color on the county board,” said Wittstock, “[and] I don’t think that whites can adequately address the concerns of people of color. A library needs to respond to the demographic changes in the public it serves.”

The merger takes effect on Jan. 1, 2008, after which Roosevelt Community, Webber Park and Southeast libraries will reopen on a three-day-a-week basis, according to Hadley. She will assume a county administrative position after the consolidation, working out merger details.

“Over the long term we want to have an equitable library system for all county residents,” said Amy Ryan, director of Community Partnerships and Development for the Minneapolis Public Libraries and co-chair of the County Steering Committee. “People care about their local library wherever they are,” Ryan said.
“The Hennepin County Board has shown a strong commitment to libraries,” said Hadley. “I think this is incredibly positive for everyone in Minneapolis and Hennepin County. The two library systems are completely complementary.”

“Whatever the post-voting booth public opinion has been of the officials elected in 2005, this group will forever be known for its decision on the fate of the Minneapolis libraries,” Wittstock wrote in a blog commentary earlier this year. “The public may in the majority agree with the decision. We have not asked,” she said