Libraries roundup

1. Last week's Arlington Extra section of the Post has a good piece on the mixed use library at Shirlington, which is being expanded by adding the Signature Theater to the mix, with offices, practice space, and a theater. See "Shirlington Redevelops Its Character," subtitled "Flagship Building Will House Innovative Signature Theatre." Note the point about the creation of "a new town square:"

Building crews are putting the finishing touches on the county's centerpiece of the new development: a $17 million flagship public library and theater on a new town square. The library and meeting space will occupy the ground floor of the new building; the upstairs will house the glamorous new digs -- including a sweeping curved staircase -- of Signature Theatre.

2. Whereas the proposal for a new central library in DC on the Old Convention Center really bobbled this. The proposal is dead at the moment, but I see that as merely temporary. The developer interests will keep this issue at the forefront. See "Williams asks council to reconsider library bill," from the Examiner.

Judging by this sentence in a Post piece, Councilmember Schwartz 1/2 gets it:

Schwartz proceeded to call the special library report "misleading." She also questioned why the District's flagship library comes with a $275 million price tag, whereas a new central library for Montgomery County that opened late last month cost only $26.3 million.

The Rockville Library is about 1/3 the size of the proposed new DC Central Library, still, we can do a lot better than is laid out in the DC Library Planning report.

3. Fortunately we are, at least with DC Public Schools, which are experiencing a focused improvement program for libraries at Capitol Hill area schools, and throughout the city. See "School Libraries Make Room to Learn," subtitled "Multimillion-Dollar Investment Promises Better Books, Computers, Appearance," from today's District Extra.

Index Keywords: libraries; education; arts-culture