The Clock’s Ticking on Three Library Kiosks
Unless LL's bird is right and Harry Thomas Jr. is successful, three library kiosks will close by Jan. 1. They are: Langston, R.L. Christian, and Sursum Corda, all of which are about 1,400 sq. feet (i.e. tiny) and open only on weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Deanwood Kiosk closed several months ago. Parklands-Turner Kiosk is also on the chopping block, but there's no date attached to it yet.
DCPL says it will make up for the loss by... asking people to go elsewhere or wait for new libraries:
A new 5,000 sq. ft. Sursum Corda library will be incorporated into Northwest One which also includes a recreation center and school. The new Deanwood Recreation Center will include a 10,000 sq. ft. library about one mile from the Deanwood Kiosk. In addition, discussions are underway that would merge the Langston and R.L. Christian kiosks in the planned Rosedale Recreation Center a half mile away from both libraries.
Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper says the Plexiglas and metal kiosks, which were built in the '70s and '80s in underserved neighborhoods, were only supposed to last five to seven years. Now the people have Metro to take them to better, bigger libraries. Plus, there's a recession. Says Cooper:
During these times of fiscal uncertainty with people scaling back on buying books and enrichment classes for their children, we especially want to be sure that the library offers the free quality services that the community needs and wants. Frankly, we are not able to do that in the kiosks.
More reasons to follow. Especially if Council tries to keep kiosks open.
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5:48 pm
As a guy who lives three doors from the Sursum Corda kiosk, I gotta say, it's a pathetic little library. They don't carry any of the typical newspapers you associate with a library, such as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, which still amazes me after five years on the block. (There is one Washington Post to be shared.) I've walked in there before and seen just a bunch of dudes sprawled out watching a random 80's movie on the house t.v. and vcr, volume at full blast, as if it were a rec center. I kid you not. Aside from a handful of computers, which are recessed so that citizens can freely view porn, nobody really has a reason to be in there. It also doesn't open until 10 a.m., I believe. It's a pathetic comment on DCPL in general. There's no other library around here for the kids to go to--the Shaw transitional library is a long hike, as is MLK. And once the Sursum kiosk is gone, I'll no longer be able to tell visitors, "Just keep an eye out for the hideous green octagon." Or is it a hexagon?