Publication Date: Friday, January 07, 2005
ReaderWire
ReaderWire
(January 07, 2005)
Retain the max
As a long-time Midtown resident, I certainly cast a vote to retain maximum traffic lanes.
Joann George
Cowper Court, Palo Alto
No 'majority' decision
Contrary to the supposed "majority" of opinions that were expressed at a recent City Council meeting, the majority of Palo Alto residents do not benefit from or approve of the "neighborhood library system" as described by many speakers in the Palo Alto Weekly article of Dec. 15.
Most Palo Alto residents live outside walking distance of any of the existing branches. As such, most residents drive or bicycle to reach an increasingly tattered and under-resourced library branch.
Specifically, Palo Alto has an area of about 26 square miles. One third of that is open space. If we presume an "easy walking distance" of half a mile (certainly that's the outer limit for children) then each current library serves about one square mile.
The Children's Library is something of a special case, unique and serving the whole community. The four "general" branches thus serve about 25 percent of Palo Alto as "walking locations."
This leaves several options: Make real the "neighborhood system" by building new neighborhood libraries to serve the other 75 percent of Palo Alto residents; centralize to fewer, better-equipped branches; or ask the beneficiaries of the local branches to support them with appropriate neighborhood taxes.
To illustrate: As a Midtown resident, the distance to both the Mitchell Park and the Main Library is too great for a convenient stroll (especially with kids). On a weekly basis I load our children into a car and drive to Mitchell Park library.
Like the majority of Palo Alto residents, we live outside walking distance to a library branch. We would benefit greatly from a new main library, and consider a reduction in the number of branch libraries a reasonable fiscal strategy. In short, we believe that a new, central, up-to-date library with a more complete catalog and more spacious interior would be a great improvement for our community as a whole.
Andy Mutz
Cowper Street, Palo Alto
Applause for Paula
I applaud Paula Simpson for trying to bring Palo Alto's library system into the 21st century. As a resident of a town (Los Altos Hills) with no services, we pay other cities (schools -- Palo Alto, libraries -- Santa Clara County) and we have to drive to everything.
I first used the Palo Alto libraries two years ago when my Terman (then located behind Jordan) 6th grader played after-school sports and I needed a place for my younger son to do his homework. The Children's Library was a shock -- run down (bathrooms worked sporadically -- how can a library not have working bathrooms?), musty, with a tattered and out-of-date collection.
Mitchell Park was better but very cramped. Both libraries ran on an archaic computer catalog (which is being updated this month) and are inferior to the Los Altos libraries in facilities, collections, openness and study space.
Keeping five branches open equals five book collections plus five buildings (desperately needing repair) plus five staffs. In a city that defeated the last library bond measure, it seems like Palo Altans want to keep the status quo without paying the bill.
I urge residents to examine the current facilities and locations -- three of the five branches are in the North while high-density development is slated for the South (Rickey's, Elks Lodge). Tour the neighboring libraries of Los Altos and Mountain View to see what you could have.
Work with Ms. Simpson to craft a future vision. Maybe it's two libraries (Main and Mitchell Park, both with children's sections) with three low-level satellites (reading/computer access rooms and pick-up/drop-off for library books ordered online); maybe a bookmobile.
But please be open to change -- it can only be an improvement.
Martha Bowden
Saddle Court, Los Altos Hills
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