The Willow Glen Resident Speak Out The joint library won't work for either students or ordinary book lovers As a former Library Commissioner for the city of San Jose and a proactive library advocate, I must voice my strong opposition to the proposed joint library project between the city and the university. The overwhelming negative responses that I have heard from the public, members of various Friends of the Libraries groups and some library staff members have convinced me that this is a highly unpopular course to follow. It would seem that the only ones in favor of this project are members of library administration, some board members from the university and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency who want the current site of the main library for other purposes. Ever since its inception, this project has raised countless questions as to its feasibility, particularly when it would be designed with the purpose of serving two distinctly different segments of the population, both with vastly different purposes for using the library. It is widely assumed that students, and rightfully so, would be given priority to facilities and materials for the purposes of their studies. Children would find themselves restricted and not allowed to roam at will throughout the building; hours would vary for students and the public. The specialized collections of the university would now be made more readily open to additional wear and tear, along with vandalism, which is all too common at the existing library. It's interesting to note that the supporters of this project felt that the only way to raise the funds needed to construct this library was to sneak it into a state bond. Obviously it was realized that had the voters of San Jose been given the choice, a local bond measure to build this library would have failed. The bottom line being that regardless of what the supporters of this project try to make the public and students at the university believe, this project has too many flaws to work. Finally, it should be asked, if this is such a great project, why are so many avid library supporters against it? Richard Lopez Campbell RDA 'steamroller' shouldn't take the cheap way with its joint library plan I am opposed to merging the central library of the City of San Jose with that of San Jose State University. The Redevelopment Agency steamroller wants the library out of the front yard of the convention center, and the merger provides a simplistic and cheap approach. The $70 million the RDA has could be used to build San Jose's own independent library. Combining the two libraries does not build on their strengths but will demonstrate their weaknesses: lack of funding for staff and materials. Citizens will find no new books on the shelves of the academic portion because that library has been underfunded for years. City Hall has said no additional staffing (except three new administrators) is needed for the public library. This doesn't make sense, since hours will be expanded to match university schedules and the square footage is greatly increased. Remodeled or new libraries typically experience a 25 percent increase in circulation, requiring more shelvers and professional staff. Once the main library has surrendered its building and its land, there is no going back. This marriage was conceived for the wrong reasons. The main library should be considered a partner in developing the downtown, not surrendered to the academic community. Thirty years ago, the main library was built on land no one wanted. The city was reborn around it. Why not use its placement again to stimulate growth and meet the needs of all San Jose residents instead of only those who can walk to it? Patricia Curia San Jose Misinformation clouds library debate and could derail an excellent proposal As a San Jose Public Library Commissioner for the past six and a half years, I have had the opportunity to be involved in the review process for the proposed joint city-university library for the past 18 months. During that times, I have attended scores of meetings on the joint library concept, including forums with the general public, and I have heard and read a variety of concerns and doubts expressed about the concept. I have also heard supportive comments on the concept. Much of the concern is understandable. The natural reaction to something as new and innovative as a joint library is healthy skepticism. But in all the comments I have heard and read, no one has identified any issues that demonstrate the concept is absolutely infeasible. Nor has anyone proposed an alternative that would more effectively address the pressing building space needs of either the city or the university library. However, beyond the many legitimate concerns, which can be addressed, there has also been a lot of cynicism and purposeful misinformation about the joint library concept promoted by opponents with very narrow views of what libraries are, how they should operate and whom they should serve. We need to get past reactive responses based on a short-term view and take a long-term, more proactive view of this opportunity. There are now very limited resources available to construct new public-use facilities like libraries. In the meantime, the library service needs of San Jose residents (which includes those who attend or work at San Jose State) are growing and becoming increasingly sophisticated. The current city and university library buildings are woefully inadequate to meet the current needs of their users. A joint city-university library facility will be able to offer greater resources, more service and more convenience to its customers than ever before. A joint library building will also address the growth needs of the city and the university library operations for 25 years. The current biggest obstacle to the success of the joint library is not its cost or how it would operate. The largest obstacle is learning to look towards the future (instead of the past) and thinking "outside the box" about how the city and university can better serve the needs of their library customers. The needs of city and university library users are not mutually exclusive. However, despite the obstacles, over the long term, as the legitimate concerns are successfully addressed, I believe a strong majority of the new community of library customers that will be served by the joint library will come to wonder why it wasn't done sooner. James Webb Jr. San Jose Public Library Commissioner [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, December 23, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.