Visioning the Future for the Main Library

Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske is hosting a community meeting on “Visioning the Future of the Main Library,” starting at 12:30 p.m. June 29, at the El Dorado Library Community Room in Long Beach.

Request for Qualifications Hints Someone Wants to Move Main Library.

Click here to read the Request for Qualifications sent to developers and others about possibly tearing down City Hall and the Main Library and building new structures. Did you know that the RFQ also raises the possibility that the Main Library could be moved out of being near City Hall?

The RFQ states:

“Rebuild or relocate within the Downtown area the existing Main Library with a modern facility that meets current user needs and use patterns, giving it a more prominent identity and enhancing efficiencies.”

Once the Long Beach City Council  receives all the responses to the RFQ and their proposals, it will have to decide what to do with the current City Hall, Main Library, and old courthouse.

The city council NEVER hosted a public meeting that included hearing from the community about what the city should do (if anything) concerning the Main Library (or City Hall for that matter). Nor did anyone sit down with the city’s library staff and ask for their ideas.

Unless the public starts speaking up about the future of the Main Library by the end of July, developers and designers may present proposals that instead of saying “fix, repair and refurbish” both City Hall and the Library, they might promote the idea that the Main Library should be torn down and moved away from City Hall.

Andrew Carnegie donated over $30,000 in 1908 so that Long Beach could have a main library. The current main library was built in 1976 as part of the new Civic Center complex.

Venue: El Dorado Library
Location: 2900 N. Studebaker Road, Long Beach