[Mpls] Re: T-H-E W-I-N-G

[md]

Yes, it's true.  The citizens of Minneapolis voted for the referendum to fund a New Central Library.
But I don't think we voted for a New Central Palace.

I did not vote for fancy glass walls and custom quarried stone.  I voted for a library where what
I can learn inside is more important than what's outside.

I did not vote for a museum worthy collection of priceless art.   I voted for rotating exhibits of
artwork from the members of our community and more of the displays the library used to have
of its books, posters and manuscripts.

I did not vote for a "green roof" which will be expensive to maintain, and probably have limited accessibilty.
I voted for a few trees, maybe some grass, a small oasis where people could read, or listen or dream.   

I did not vote for fancy fundraisers with the wealthy elite or a library so elegant, that the homeless
people who used to play chess there will be banned because they'll clash with the decor.

Some grand libraries were built in the past...like the original Walker Library.  But these
were the funded by wealthy industrialists like Walker and Carnegie....so it was private philanthropy
not public money that built them.

I know that the referendum money is separate from the "operations" money that keeps the
libraries open, buys materials and computers and pays the staff, but the money should not 
be separate.

I know that the referendum money is all for the New Central Palace and probably could not
be shared to repair Walker Library's leaking roof deck, or replace the ancient furnace
of another library or renovate East Lake, or fund the temporary location of Franklin Library.
But it should have been.

What I'm talking about is what is needed and what is necessary versus what is excessive
and not needed.   What I'm talking about is what makes a library a library. The building
is just a box sheltering the real treasure inside.

T-H-E  W-I-N-G, be it cement, or steel (titanium?) or whatever it is symbolizes nothing more to
me than an incredible, extravagant waste.  It's like giving a Faberge egg to a hungry kid.  


Madeline Douglass
Kingfield