Thousands of books will be moved back and forth during the recarpeting, starting with the fiction collection, which will move to the current seating area near the East windows.
The Library's trustees approved a bid for $246,000, awarded to Absolute Construction of Racine. The cost of replacing the carpeting, which was installed in 1989, is being shared by the city and the library. Other renovation costs are being paid for with the library’s endowment funds.
The following changes may affect library usage:
Beginning May 10, meetings and programs scheduled for the Emily Lee Room will be relocated to the Peg Martin Room.
Asbestos abatement will begin in the northwest corner of the library on May 24. Infilling of the second floor atrium will begin June 1.
Should the RPL be open Sundays before the spend $246,000, on carpets? and if they have that much to blow why the hell did the City have to come up with more money? IMHO serving the public by being open comes far before carpets.
ReplyDeleteI love the RPL but on this they are oh so wrong
10:21 - don't be an idiot. It is a requirement to keep any building, structure or even home to keep it updated. I don't think replacing 1989 carpeting extravagant.
ReplyDeleteRacine's library palls when compared to many others I have visited. Most are in towns much smaller than Racine. We don't have a decent large community meeting room. The entrance with it's prison guard tower is impractical and hideous. I think the $246,000 would be better spent as the down payment on a major rebuilding or replacement.
ReplyDeleteThis time hire a better design firm.
I have lived in quite a few different cities during my working career. Some were smaller and some larger than Racine. The Racine library is the WORST from both an aesthetic and service level. It is a depressing place, dark and dingy and not very welcoming. I hope that whoever designed it has found better use of his/her skills.
ReplyDeleteThe renovation money and the Sunday hours money come from 2 different sources and are allocated for different reasons. You can't just say "take the renovation money and use it for the Sunday hours." It's more complicated than that, like it or not.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you knew the last time they cleaned that carpet in there (basically never), you'd be wanting it replaced too.
Although it should be asked why there is asbestos in the library at all, since asbestos containing building materials were outlawed in the U.S. in the early 1970's - what are they doing in a 1989 building? Makes you wonder what kind of underhanded funny business was going on during contruction - the only place you can still find building materials with asbestos in them is from foreign countries.
Our library is a real gem.
ReplyDeleteLearn to appreciate it.
I used to love our library when its entrance was on at the street level. I'd go in, and with the magazine section on my right, the checkout counters on my left, and the card catalogs and the stacks ahead of me, it was an exciting place to be. It was hushed, had a lot of people using it, and was impressive.
ReplyDeleteMoving the entrance to face the parking lot in the back killed the design for me. It's painful for me to go past the library now.
"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteOur library is a real gem.
Learn to appreciate it. "
yeah it's a cross between an internet cafe and a homeless shelter. and it always smells like BO.
real freaking gem.