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Residents fight for 'cozy little library'
By BRYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- A library with three times the space, three times the books and 18 times as many computers with Internet access might sound great to some people, but not to Vicki Osburn of the Jungle Terrace neighborhood. "We're happy with our cozy little library," she told public officials Thursday night. "And you can't reproduce that in a three-story college library." She is one of a vocal group of residents who oppose a proposal to close the Azalea public library branch, which operates in partnership with Azalea Middle School. Mayor Rick Baker wants to move the city's books from that branch to a new 50,000-square-foot library that would be built in partnership with St. Petersburg College on its campus at 67th Street and Eighth Avenue N. College students and city residents would share the library, to open in 2005. The building would stand two or three stories tall, and some sections, like the children's area, would be on separate floors from the academic stacks where students would study. But both residents and students would have access to the whole building and therefore all its books, computers and other tools, proponents say. The City Council will hold a formal public hearing on the plan Aug. 6 -- but the debate intensified last week. Wednesday, city officials told scolded Azalea Branch librarians for collecting petition signatures against the plan during working hours. The larger group of opponents says it has collected more than 900 signatures of people who dislike the idea. Hearing about the librarians' scolding led opponent Steve Plice to make testy remarks to Deputy Mayor Mike Dove at a Council of Neighborhood Associations meeting Wednesday night. Then on Thursday, opponents made up much of the crowd of 150 people at a public forum to discuss the idea at the college. Many who live within walking distance of the current library at 7801 22nd Ave. N say the new branch would be less convenient for them and their children. Some dislike the idea of college students mingling with public library patrons. They also say the college would build a new library even without the city's involvement, and it would be available to city residents; they see the city's investment as a waste. Others say the city formed the plan without their input and is ignoring their objections. "We weren't surprised to have opposition," Dove said. "Any time you have a comfortable situation that has existed for years, some people won't want to change it. It's been a great little branch library out there and a lot of people have enjoyed it." But Dove and other officials say the college has offered the city a great deal. The city would invest $2-million toward the construction of a library that would be worth more than $9-million. Then, for the same $300,000 per year it spends to operate Azalea Branch, residents would have access to many more resources. A contract to be negotiated later would set out the rights and responsibilities of the city and the college, including whose staff members would run the branch. The city's capital projects director, John Green, said it would be impractical to keep both branches open, as some people have suggested. He said that would require spending $600,000 per year for operating expenses instead of $300,000. Mayor Rick Baker told the forum participants Thursday that he still favors the new library, but he insists the opponents are wrong when they say he has not listened to their view. "I respect that; I appreciate it," he said.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Letters |
