01/25/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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- e e Mr. Moore said he thought the University library was an adequate research facility, but he did not think it was an outstanding research facility. And, he added, the library as well as parking was getting crowded and badly needed expansion. Mr. Moore said he also believed the University library could not adequately serve the needs of grade school and middle school children, and he thought the City library had to supplement school libraries with a central facility to make efficient use of funds. Mr. Moore said he thought an educated public, which the library helped to strengthen, was important to maintaining the strength of democracy, as had been stated by Horace Mann about 150 years ago when he helped to start comprehensive public education. Mr. Moore noted that the City library also carried popular literature, which he did not believe was the function of an academic research library and its funds. Of all the recommendations to improve the image of the City, Mr. Moore said he believed the library was one project that would give substance to the image, and that would help bring badly needed capital into the city. Elizabeth F. Fox, 340 North Adams Street, spoke under Other Comments. Ms. Fox said she agreed with many of Ms. Bentsen's comments, she favored a good public library, but she thought some of the recommendations in the report should be reconsidered. Ms. Fox said she did not think the site should be changed because the current site had no congestion. She said she thought the nine reasons cited by Mr. Robertson were all reasons NOT to locate the library downtown. She said a good library certainly would help business, but commercial interests should not be the main factor in the decision. Ms. Fox said young children would be better served by a location outside the downtown center, which allowed them more freedom, and the elderly also preferred the convenience of a peripheral location. Ms. Fox said one portion of Willamette Street just had been opened to traffic at great cost, and she thought it was a good thing, so she did not favor closing another street. She expressed frustration at the downtown traffic patterns and said that if parking were provided across the street, a bridge should be included for pedestrians, so that the street did not have to be closed and later reopened. Ms. Fox said she also agreed with Ms. Bentsen that the project as presented was likely to fail, and she did not want opposition to this particular proposal to jeopardize updating of the library. She suggested updating the library at its current site, adding that she opposed the expense of a vote that would fail and would result in contention for the community. Sue Girardeau, 2398 Douglas Drive, representing the League of Women Voters of Lane County, spoke in support of a new or expanded library for MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 25, 1988 Page 7