Take My Library, Please!

STATEMENT ON THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM INTO HENNEPIN COUNTY

-- To be read into the minutes of March 7, 2007 in its entirety

I have been on the Minneapolis Public Library Board since March, 2002, when I attended my first meeting after having been appointed to the board by Mayor R.T. Rybak . At that time I knew very little about the library board but I knew a lot about literature, nonprofit administration, community dynamics, and government (from my days as a reporter for the American Indian Press Association).

It has been my observation that there are considerable benefits to the people of Minneapolis that resulted from having an independent library board. The 80-plus year history of the board has given us the system we have today –15 libraries that acknowledge the importance of neighborhoods to ongoing knowledge acquisition by people of all ages and stations, and at the same time aspiring to have available to the public the most extensive collection of materials possible given the context of the city and the library budgets. That would not have happened if the Minneapolis system had been run by bureaucrats. We would long ago have disappeared in that instance. As a member of an American Indian nation and knowing of others, the lack of oversight and management of the Bureau of Indian Affairs has come down over about 170 years to a state of overwhelming disaster. The largest lawsuit in United States history is ongoing now on the alleged massive mismanagement of this bureaucracy.

The balance and representation the public receives from having an independent library board is unqualifiedly superior to a library system run with no supervision.

It is difficult in the present circumstances to look at the situation the Minneapolis public library system is in and not look around for blame. It is the natural human impulse to do this. However, the result of that kind of exercise will leave the public frustrated. The public is losing its library system. Whether the new consolidated library system, to be called the Hennepin County Library will succeed is something we do not know. Those who say they know are only expressing the persuasion they hope to have over those who are now empowered to make the decision for or against the change.

We can however, question the process. There is room for a great deal of argument and deliberation as the consolidation is considered. We are told, however, that there is no time for this. We must decide because the State Legislature has a deadline for the submission of new bills. If ever there were in the history of Minnesota a weaker reason to consolidate a library system, I do not know what it is.

This is as everyone understands a political process. The people’s voice will not be heard in the courts. Those who support the consolidation without question and those who oppose it with questions are all in the same boat together. History is in the making at earthquake speed and not much can stop it. The Minneapolis Public library board began its fast track to irrelevancy on October 18, 2006 when it refused to stand up for the people to the Minneapolis City Council. In its action the library board released the brake it had on the annual budgeting process and the system began to slide downhill. Along the way, three community libraries closed, perhaps for good. We just don’t know the answer to that today.

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. The public may in the majority agree with the decision. We have not asked.

I have throughout my life been a strong union supporter. This is due to the hard fought place in the unions my brothers achieved. As controversial as this may seem, one of my brothers was a friend of Jimmy Hoffa. Another brother broke ground for new union entry by young Seneca men who had been previously shut out because of race. Still another brother represented unions in the very difficult environment of the Arizona districts.

If there is one profession, besides teaching that I hold in the highest esteem, it is professional librarians. Many, many of those I have known in my thirty-four years of living in Minneapolis and going to Minneapolis libraries. I am particularly fond of the Franklin Library. I have spent countless hours there. But I have also been, pre-internet, in the foundation center of the Central Library, pouring over reference materials. In all of this time, I have been helped, taught, and guided by librarians.

I cannot throw this personal history of mine away, and wish our librarians good luck as they face an uncertain future. They have invested heavily in the minds of Minneapolis residents over these 122 years and it is now our turn to show our appreciation. We need to be very concerned about librarians as we give away the libraries.

I am very pleased to cast my lot among them in opposition to the consolidation. I also stand with the brave and passionate users of the Roosevelt, Southeast, and Webber Park libraries for open libraries forever.