The D.C. government blamed a heat gun for the fire that burned down Georgetown’s public library last April. Ten months later, the neighborhood is lacking even an adequate interim branch and the reconstruction is so far behind that the project’s architect is only being announced today. In the District, slow-moving bureaucracy can be as dangerous to bibliophiles as heat guns. The District of Columbia Public Library system must open an interim library location as soon as possible and ensure that the permanent library is constructed on time.
Georgetown does not even have an interim library because the site DCPL officials chose was rejected by the Advisory Neighborhood Commission. The ANC thought the library was too far from neighborhood residences.
“I believe the site they were talking about was actually up in Glover Park, which would make it even further than … the current library,” ANC Commissioner Bill Skelsey said.
Because of DCPL and the ANC’s disagreement over the interim library’s location, Georgetown must make do with a “hi-tech” bookmobile. The bookmobile’s Internet connections may be impressive, but putting a constricted number of books and other materials on a bus because DCPL can’t muster the resources and energy to provide area residents with even an interim library is decidedly low-tech.
It would be inconvenient but not a serious problem if only affluent Georgetown, whose residents have the resources to drive to another library or buy books at Barnes & Noble, was without a permanent library. But ours isn’t the only neighborhood with this problem—the Anacostia, Bening, Tenley-Friendship and Watha T. Daniel-Shaw libraries are all only interim libraries.
Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) came to office promising to reform the District’s education system, but he has so far ignored the District’s libraries, some of the most important educational outlets students have outside of class. A library should be a place where neighbors can relax, meet and learn at their leisure. Neither Georgetown’s bookmobile nor other neighborhoods’ interim libraries provide that atmosphere.
A disconnect between the city government and the neighborhoods is not the only reason so many neighborhoods lack permanent libraries. DCPL’s slow reaction time is aggravated by insufficient federal aid. President Bush’s recently proposed budget for 2009 provides only $7 million to D.C. libraries, instead of the $12.7 million requested by D.C.’s Office of Management and Budget, according to the Washington Examiner.
The Jelleff Boys and Girls Club, a better spot for the Georgetown community, has been chosen as the new site for the interim library. If DCPL officials become more attuned to the needs of the community, Georgetown will soon have an interim library, and the permanent branch will make its expected opening day in 2010. Then we’ll just have to worry about heat guns.
