This past week, Q-line asked:
City leaders are considering building a new library in the Pico Neighborhood. There are currently two proposals on the table. One calls for having the library placed in Virginia Avenue Park. Others think it should be elsewhere on Pico Boulevard. Where should the new library be located and why?
Here are your responses:
“The city of Santa Monica certainly does need a new library. The multi-million dollar library just completed with a tomb of printed literature is simply not adequate. We must also consider the enormous distance between the Santa Monica Main Library and the Santa Monica boundary lines that must be at least two to four miles. For convenience’s sake, I suggest we place a library on both Virginia Street, Pico Boulevard and Montana Avenue. Also on Wilshire, Olympic, Lincoln Boulevards and the I-10 freeway. That way we would have all of our literary bases covered. A perfect make-work project.”
“We’ve already got the Main Library and three branch libraries that pretty much cover the whole city. We don’t need another one. The people who are there in Virginia Park — if it was really big that would be fine, but then they’d have to close the Fairview Branch. Replacing one is one thing but we don’t need another one.”
“We don’t need another library. There already is a library only a couple blocks away on Ocean Park Boulevard. Also, libraries are now obsolete, since everyone just reads on the Internet. Santa Monica’s libraries have become mostly … motels and toilets for the homeless.”
“Under no circumstances should the library be held in Virginia Park. It should be placed on Pico Boulevard. Pico Boulevard as it is now is a dump and it needs to be cleaned up and revitalized by putting a library on the street. It will help bring in other services like cafes and restaurants, and help that neighborhood.”
“This is a great question and easy to answer. According to your paper, we the taxpayers can save $6 million by building the new library within Virginia Park. Pico Neighborhood residents say they are in need of book-learning. At Virginia Park you already have increased security, custodial and grounds staffing, hopefully by union city workers. The Pico Neighborhood has become the big crybabies in our city, but not the big taxpayers. Anyway, I agree with them in regards to keeping Pico Boulevard simple. It’s one of the few low-density streets in our town. Don’t let City Hall spin its utopian ideal on Pico Boulevard and destroy its quaintness like it has to the rest of Santa Monica.”
“Why should we have another library over in that part of town? What’s wrong with the Ocean Park Library? I think it’s insane that they want to put a multi-million dollar new library over at Pico when there’s already one at Ocean Park and one at Main Street and one on Montana and there’s the Downtown one. What’s the point, people? Let me reiterate to you the hours of the libraries. For Montana, at least, and Ocean Park, they’re closed on Fridays and Sundays. On Sundays, at the Main Library, they’re only open from one to five. They open during the weekdays at 10. Let’s take some of that money for this excessive and not needed, unnecessary library they’re talking about on Pico to be built and open the libraries longer. We totally understand why you open at 10 — to keep the homeless people from sleeping there all day, which they generally do as soon as the place opens. But to have library hours up Sunday at the Main Library from one to five, why even bother opening? Take that money and get the libraries open more hours. We pay taxes, we don’t need another superfluous library. We need longer hours at the existing libraries. Anyway, it’s just going to turn into another sleeping place for the homeless, what’s the point?”
“I think the park is the best place for it, because young people will be there already.”
“Instead of building a branch library, use that money to extend the hours at all the other branches including being open on Fridays. Outreach can be done to the Pico Neighborhood to raise awareness of the Fairview Branch Library, which is a very short walk away. There could also be free passes offered to the Ocean Park and Main libraries, and I recommend increasing the budgets for books and materials at all the existing libraries rather than building more.”
