Neighborhood Watch: Residents Flash-Mob Mt. Pleasant Library Expansion
The Issue: The saga between neighborhood residents and the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) battles on. Mount Pleasant Public Library in Ward 1, set to close on Saturday for renovation and expansion, is the latest in the spotlight of the library wars. For the past two years, DCPL and the community have been discussing the renovation of the historic Italian Renaissance-style building, says George Williams, public information officer for DCPL. Plans include expanding the library to the property line and building a new accessibility ramp that winds around the side of the building toward a rear entrance. During construction, residents will have access to an interim library at 3164 Mount Pleasant St. NW, which opens April 26. The new library is expected to open fall 2011. What could be wrong with a facelift?
Stop!: Neighborhood residents argue the problem isn’t the renovation but the lack of community input into DCPL’s plans. The last community meeting was June 2009. Many residents expressed concern over the height and placement of the accessibility ramp, and the fire hazard the expansion may pose to neighboring apartments. DCPL has failed to address these issues, says local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) commissioner, Chris Otten. He says the expansion—“which nobody has asked for, by the way"—would "block emergency access points” because it places the renovated library 15 feet from the closest buildings. DCPL responds to questions with “no, that’s not possible or we’ll look into it,” leaving resident questions unanswered, Otten says.
For the Love of Books: “We believe that the community wants and deserves a new and renovated library,” Williams says. Mount Pleasant Public Library is the only one in Ward 1. The community needs this expansion, he says. The proposed accessibility ramp will be 120 feet long, with a 7-foot incline versus the current 3-foot incline; it was approved by the D.C. Office of Disability Rights, he adds. He says the community has had a chance to engage in discussion over the library's design. “Glad renovations are finally moving forward, though the amount of neighborhood bickering over it has been ridiculous,” writes DCist commenter CrookedRiverwoman.
What’s Next: Community residents are planning a rally/flash-mob outside and a "SaveDaLibrary Danceathon" inside the library on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Talks of a sit-in are in the works, Otten says.
Rendering courtesy of DCPL
6:08 pm
Not surprised. Otten has been going up against the library all over the city. Did it in my neighborhood too. That time he was with the District Dynamos. Here's the link: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/09/03/neighborhood-watch-ward-8-and-the-washington-highlands-library/#comments
At least he is in the right ward this time. If people come to the flash mob, it will just remind me that folk can be dumb east and west of the river.
6:33 pm
Kim, good review of the issue, but some clarifications are needed.
1) DC's Office of Disability Rights, and Derek Orr, may have signed off on the plans verbally to DCPL, but there is nothing in writing to back this up. ODR and DCPL have not presented anything in writing about what components of the ramp they reviewed and if it complied with all parts of the ADA rules.
2) When George Williams of DCPL says, “We believe that the community wants and deserves a new and renovated library, Mount Pleasant Public Library is the only one in Ward 1. The community needs this expansion," he says.
He and DCPL fails to acknowledge that DCPL has never done a service needs analysis to determine where else in Ward One a satellite library could be located to better serve our residents. Why does Ward One only get one library -- and this pot of money being used on DCPL's "needed expansion" will be it for Ward One for quite some time.
4) You forget to mention the CXhief Librarian Ginnie Cooper -- she is the one who has decided the need for the expansion, arbitrary, random need that has never been vetted with the public. The large part of this expansion is to build a 100-person meeting room. They already have that in the basement, sure it can be prettier, but that is what a renovation is for. Get in touch with Ginnie Cooper and ask her how she came up with this idea >> ginnie.cooper@dc.gov
7:41 pm
And here they go again.
7:43 pm
Otten has been going up against the library all over the city. Did it in my neighborhood too. That time he was with the District Dynamos.
To get the link, click on the chris otten tag and see the washington highlands tab from september.
At least he is in the right ward this time. If people come to the flash mob, it will just remind me that folk can be dumb east and west of the river.
8:02 pm
sorry for the duplicate posts. The first ones were not passing muster [the link i guess]
2:54 am
To B-
I really wish you wouldn't describe it as going up against the library, that sounds like some perverted vision that you've conjured up.
It seems clear now... DCPL unfortunately has been affected by the dread permutation known only as the Fenty trickle-down system-of-suck.
Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper makes more than $200,000 per anum. Do you think that might obscure an open and collaborative relationship with working class DC residents -- some of who make 1/10 of her hefty salary for the same year of work.
Chief Cooper and Library Board President John Hill's libraries are costing, in some cases, five+ times national standards, with the conceptual drawings alone costing more than twice the federal standard.
There is only on shot to spend the 12.5 million dollars given to Ward One to expand library services. There is no other money in the pipeline... for perhaps quite some time.
Expanding library services DOES NOT have to mean planning to build an ill-advised expansion which extends to the library property line and blocks an emergency access point to the residential corridor.
Nor does it have to mean building an accessibility ramp that goes up seven feet high, which is why it's 100 feet long and takes library goers to the rear of the library, as demonstrated in this well placed web entry.
If you goto the Dynamo's front page, you can watch video of Chief Cooper explaining that when the newly renovated libraries come online, she won't have the budget to staff them?
http://www.districtdynamos.org
~ Chris O.
202-536-4065
8:14 am
There are lots of issues to be sick of in Ward One, but this one has got to top the list...enough already.
9:33 am
Yeah, it's a fundimental journalism mistake to I'd Chris O as an ANC in a story about libraries. For years he's been associated with Ralph Nader's Library project and the "District Dynamos".
His ANC hat is purely secondary to this astro-turf group.
10:35 am
Exactly Downtown.
Chris, you don't think I am going to believe you know after you were caught dodging questions and lying before. [you can see that in the other article i mentioned before]. You can save that for them dumb ones who listen to you.
Ward One, i understand your pain. the ANC in ward 8 was up in arms too because of this man's work. I am sorry that he is on your ANC [and I hope you don't vote for him again].
2:37 am
Uh, B, my sources tell me that you're just another self-appointed wannabe that will go only as far as your mouth and your delusions of grandeur will take you.
You aren't going to get anywhere tearing down other folks' work and lobbing baseless stink bombs in their direction. But, seeing just how angry and resentful you are, my bet is you're going to have to learn that the hard way.
9:13 am
"You aren't going to get anywhere tearing down other folks' work and lobbing baseless stink bombs in their direction."
rather good advice for these library obstructionists who love to hate Ginnie Cooper and have obstructed every single library modernization project in the city.
10:22 am
Who'sZoominWho, thanks for the advice. I don't really have any delusions of grandeur though. I just hate liars. Chris happens to be one of the worst kinds of liars.
Take a look at the previous post on the Library in my neighborhood. When I and others asked Chris questions and he went out of his way to avoid them or wanted to share them in secret. And I wasn't the only one picking up on that.
My advice for who ever is reading or listening to anything Chris Otten says is to verify it somewhere else.
I guess that makes Zoomin right. I won't get very far in this world relying on things that can be verified. I should have just relied on my library savior coming cross the river to guide da poor folk.
11:57 am
"I should have just relied on my library savior coming cross the river to guide da poor folk."
lolol... now there's a classic from the old Marion Barry playbook... here come that lyin' devil whitey!!
1:20 pm
LOLLOL! Good call. It seems that the shoe fit.
1:28 pm
This dialog has once again devolved into baseless name calling. I will stand by the facts and the videos which speak for themselves.
The fact is that these new and renovated libraries are costing two- to five- times national standards per square foot. Who's getting that money? The fact is there hasn't been one design charette held ever for any of these projects (see Architecture 101). The fact is the Chief Librarian has said that when these newly renovated libraries open, DC Public Library won't have the budget to staff them!
You can see videos of the facade of community input and the people who are opposed to the lack of public input into any of the design planning, in their own words >>
http://dcdynamos.blip.tv/
I am one person, only. These hundreds of volunteers, and thousands of petitions signers, throughout the City who would not have been even aware of these controversial library projects, no thanks to DCPL's horrible community outreach to those being affected by these overly expensive projects. The Dynamos and Library Renaissance Project has helped get more people involved in the civic discourse around something as important as our public library.
Stop the name calling, stop the bigoted commentary, stop the obfuscation, and look at the facts and videos to see the real people who are involved and concerned.
Thanks,
Chris O.
202-536-4065
3:59 pm
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Before joining Ralph Nader's Library group, Chris ran for mayor of DC as the Green party candidate. The Green Party. You know, the same one that (also under Ralph Nader) drew enough liberal votes in Florida to cost Gore the presidency, thereby giving us 8 years of Bush, the Iraq war, etc & etc.
4:04 pm
I find it funny that Chris calls people out then wants everyone to stop the name calling when the person being questioned is him.
Like I said before, people take everything that this guy says and verify it. You will save yourself a lot of time.
10:20 pm
Sorry, but I can't let the patently ignorant comment that "Ralph Nader caused Al Gore to lose the 2000 election" stand without challenge.
Fenty fanboy "downtown rez" must be worried enough about his cushy little DC government-funded sinecure ending if Fenty doesn't get reelected that he's willing to say just about anything, no matter how untrue or stupid.
And I have verified Otten's statements "B"... the proof is in the public record. And, no surprise here, nothing supports your version of reality.
11:05 pm
nice try. really. But that is wrong and you KNOW it is wrong. Just another story of Chris vs. the Big Bad Library again. It would happen if Fenty or Gray are mayor.
If your source of verifying this stuff is the links to the dynamos web page, you should reconsider that.
11:21 pm
Yeah, I'm happy with Fenty. But my comments were not about him. They pertained to a shell organization set up by a cynical hack who cost the nation 8 years of Bush.
And on the 2000 election, facts are facts, anonymous. Bush won Florida and so the entire country by less than a thousand votes. Nader (such an appropriate na
me!) got far more than that and drew heavily from liberal voters. Hell, he was even partly funded by conservative groups.
This is all in the public record. None of it is open to seriously debate. Google it. I think TPM wrote quite a bit about the funding aspect, at least, back in the day.
Back to my main point: any mention of Chris Otten and libraries that does not at least mention his 5+ year history with the Green Party and the Nader-spawned Dynamos is incomplete at a very basic level.
1:08 am
"But my comments were not about him."
And neither were mine. They were about you, the real cynical hack--a bought and paid for one, I might add.
"Back to my main point:"
Your main point is to do your master's bidding and to spin reality to suit yourself and your goals. Good luck with that. You're going to need it!
10:24 am
Your main point is to do your master's bidding and to spin reality to suit yourself and your goals
I am my own person and am free to make my own choices. I'm not being paid to follow local news, nor to comment about it. I keep abreast of local news of a sense of civic responsibility that comes from over over 20 years of living in various neighborhoods in DC, and because I am responsible for the future of my family, and care for the many good friends and acquaintances I have made here.
By the way, I notice that while you you wrote:
I can't let the patently ignorant comment that "Ralph Nader caused Al Gore to lose the 2000 election" stand without challenge.
you didn't rebut any of the statements that I made, you just accused me of being a hack. This being so, please consider taking your own advice:
Good luck with that approach, you're going to need it!
Regards,
drez
2:06 pm
Okay, I don't know Chris Otten, and I haven't been impressed by most ANC commissioners I've encountered. And I have no desire to debate a ten-year-old election.
But as a Ward One resident whose partner has a disability, I see a real issue here. Right now, the library has a short ramp in the front. Under the planned renovation, the length and grade of the ramp would increase drastically, making it harder for people with disabilities to get in. And, of course, the new ramp would enter in the back. That’s just an insult to people with disabilities who have to hassle for access to public spaces every day.
So you all can snipe at each other in the comments here all you want. But this renovation would be a step backwards for people's basic access, and it's just plain disrespectful. And I'm willing to hold my nose at whatever other agendas and egos are playing out here to try to do something about that.
2:54 pm
"...you didn't rebut any of the statements that I made..."
There's nothing to rebut. Even Al Gore has debunked your nonsensical baloney, many times over. Just because you say the same thing over and over again doesn't make it reality.
"...you just accused me of being a hack."
Au contraire, my fine feathered drez; I was simply holding up the mirror to reflect your insults of Nader and Otten back where they belonged.
hack: a professional who renounces or surrenders individual independence, integrity, belief, etc., in return for money or other reward in the performance of a task normally thought of as involving a strong personal commitment: a political hack.
"...please consider taking your own advice:"
That was not advice, simply observation, although I will admit I was being somewhat sarcastic in wishing you luck.
8:35 pm
Mister goat has a point about this ramp. The current ramp doesn't look very welcoming either. What kind of ramp passes ADA? Why has the new one been designed that way?
10:06 pm
Anon-I'm confident in the truth of what I wrote. Al Gore needed to be a statesman and mend his national party. The stakes in our pleasant conversation are not so high, and I have no such duties.
Mr Goat and question- if the ramp seems excessively long and goes in the back, my off the cuff guess is that is likely because of a combination of: for ada compliance ramps must be under a certain slope, because of historic considerations with the building, and because of the configuration of public space around the library (especially in front).
But I am not familiar with the project so that is just a guess. Why not ask DCPL? With the Shaw library they were quite accessable.
12:24 am
@Question - I did some unscientific research (i.e. google). Sites I visited said that the ADA recommends a 1:12 slope for business (I am assuming that Libraries fall within that group).
This means every 1 inch of vertical rise requires one foot of ramp. If we have a 7 foot incline, then the vertical rise is roughly 84 inches. The rise of 84 inches would require an ramp of about 84 feet.
My unofficial search says that ramps longer than 30 feet need a landing. I am not sure about all of the details for the library ramp, but maybe that info will help.
10:23 am
I live just a few blocks from the library (for 8 years) and have supported a renovated and expanded library the whole time. This is a made-up controversy that only cements Mt. Pleasant's reputation as being a NIMBY stronghold. In case you missed it, the area immediately east of the library, in Columbia Heights, is growing exponentially. More space in the library is required, and it's MUCH cheaper to renovate and excpand the centrally-located MTP library than to build another one somewhere else in Ward 1. All the hand-wringing over the design of the ramp is simply a red herring - the real forces at play here are MTP's entrenched anti-development and anti-change residents, a vocal minority of busybodies with too much time on their hands.