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AFPLWATCH Stories Posted in February 2008 |
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Trustees Vote Against Re-Locating Buckhead Branch
Posted February 28, 2008
The library system's trustees, after listening last night to approximately
a dozen people urging them to go on record as wanting to preserve the
current building housing the Buckhead Branch Library, voted to reject a
developer's offer to buy the building and property for $24 million,
demolish the building, and relocate the library elsewhere.
The trustees' vote will be communicated to the Fulton County Commission,
which has the final say-so on the developer's offer.
Details on the vote were published in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Save the Library!
by Katharine Suttell
February 16, 2008; posted February 28, 2008
The Story of Ida Williams
In 1920s Buckhead there was a little teacher with spectacles who believed
in educated citizens. She believed education came through reading, and she
believed everyone should have access to reading through a free and
democratic public library. She formed the North Side Library Association
(NSLA) and raised money for a one-room library inside a larger building.
After several moves to ever larger quarters, the NSLA raised funds through
sewing, baking, and pledging, to buy a plot of land for a separate and
permanent library building.
The dream of Miss Ida Williams became reality
in 1942, six years after her death, when a 6,000 square-foot public library
opened on Buckhead Avenue. When the Ida Williams Library became part of the
public library system of Atlanta it did so with the understanding that the
land, deeded to local government by the NSLA, would always be used for a
public library. Word of honor counted for a lot in those days.
The story of Ida Williams is a small piece of a story that began in Britain
and was repeated over and over again throughout this country: the
establishment of free and democratic libraries for the enrichment,
entertainment, and education of the citizenry.
The Present Library
Libraries are growing organisms and Buckhead’s library is no exception. The
1942 building could no longer be stretched to accommodate increased demand
and in 1989 a new building, almost three-and-a-half times larger than the
first, was opened on the original site. The new library, designed by Scogin,
Elam, and Bray Architects has won several architecture awards and has proved to
be a popular destination for architecture students and design enthusiasts
from around the country. One person once said the building resembled an
opening book. How appropriate.
Unfortunately, the new library was never perfect; many residents dislike
its daring design. More to the point, the building suffers from numerous
physical problems, some due to poor construction, some due to poor
maintenance, and some due to design. Chief among the problems are constant
troubles with roof leaks, a malfunctioning heating and air conditioning
system, poor acoustics, and very little visibility or identification as a
library.
In spite of the negatives listed above, many of which can be remedied, the
library has a number of exceptional features: brave and thought-provoking
architecture; an open and spacious interior; large amounts of natural
light; a simple and friendly floor-plan; a enviable view of downtown
Atlanta; and ample wall-space that has been used in recent years as an art
gallery for local painters and photographers.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue
The vision of Miss Ida Williams is now being threatened by market forces
and the bottom line. A developer is hoping to completely change the look
and feel of Buckhead Village by replacing the bars and strips with high-end
retail and living space.
Buckhead Village will look better with these
changes; it will be uniform and sport a manufactured life-style; but it
will also be one-dimensional. The plan described is little more than a
pretty outdoor Phipps Plaza, with condos.
An article on the Buckhead Village development in the Atlanta Business
Chronicle (1-29-07) quotes the Brookings Institute’s Chris Leinberger
on what he considers an essential ingredient for an area to achieve a
comeback. He mentions “walkable urbanity” which encourages people to walk
up to 2,000 feet along a path. For this to happen, the path must contain
several and varied activities and destinations of interest to children,
adults, and whole families. Concomitant with the transformation of Buckhead
Village is the project of the Buckhead Community Improvement District
involving the creation of a “Peachtree Boulevard” of pedestrian promenades,
trees, wide sidewalks, and bike lanes.
The developer of Buckhead Village was quoted (in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
2-11-08) as saying that the current Buckhead Library is “kind of a gap in
the experience” of his planned retail destination on Buckhead Avenue. His
plans show the library relegated to two floors above a parking deck; an
afterthought behind an 18-storey condominium.
But doesn’t the library fit
perfectly into the idea of walkable urbanity with pedestrian friendliness,
varied destinations, bike lanes, galleries, coffee shops, and trees? In
fact, the library should be a focal point, a show-piece, a visible and
viable place for all. Surely Atlanta is a city of readers as well as
shoppers; a city of stories as well as bank accounts; a city of knowledge
as well as earnings. And Buckhead’s schools, some within walking distance
of the present library, need the support of an accessible, safe, and
convenient public library.
Imagine Fifth Avenue without the lions of the
New York Public Library.
Let us keep the Buckhead library as a stand-alone
public structure, on public land, for public use. It is in the interest of
local government and it is the responsibility of the Atlanta-Fulton Public
Library System to settle for nothing less and to ensure that the library
remain a vital part of the community.
Final Note
What if the developer should muster the same vision, courage, and good
spirit of Ida Williams and instead of tearing down the library, he offered
to build it up? Picture it: a beautiful structure in the heart of Buckhead
Village filled with books, movies, recordings, databases, and journals,
with programming for all ages, with meeting rooms for groups, with gallery
space for local artists, and even (why not?) a coffee shop for discussion
or relaxation. The “Buckhead native” would become a Buckhead hero.
Katharine Suttell is a former manager of the Buckhead Branch Library,
and lives in Buckhead.
Branch Library an Obstacle to Developer's Plans
Posted February 11, 2008; updated February 26, 2008
The frenzied, expensive makeover of Buckhead that's been in high gear for
several years now may end up swallowing up the branch library there. One of
the area's mega-developers wants to buy the property where the current
library is located, tear down the building, and create a new library atop a
planned parking garage.
An interesting, if rather predictable, controversy has ensued among the
various stakeholders, including the revenue-strapped county government. The
developer's current offer for the property: $24 million.
Some of the facts are highlighted in
an article published in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
February 26th Update: Subsequent
AJC coverage of the Buckhead Library controversy can be found
here.
Proposed Legislation Could Result in Budget Cuts
for Libraries and Other County Services
Posted February 7, 2008
A bill introduced into the Georgia Legislature to head off
tax increases for the citizens living in still-unincorporated parts
of southern Fulton County would, according to an article
in yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shrink by $11 million
the revenue used to fund the county's libraries and other "general fund" operations.
This latest proposed legislation is part of the fallout from a massive
cut in county revenues that resulted from citizens throughout the county
organizing to incorporate new cities as a way of minimizing their
dependence on county government. And that trend was triggered by widespread,
longstanding frustration with Fulton County government's ability to
efficiently meet their needs for county services, by public revulsion
toward various spectacular failures to govern wisely (such as the expensive
library race discrimination lawsuit, followed a few years later by the inept -
and tragic - security services provided at the county courthouse), and by
the stubborn refusal of the county commissioners to realign their priorities,
county practices, and the structure of the commission itself in response to various
appeals - and opportunities - to do that.
Continue reading previously-posted AFPLWATCH stories
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