An article from yesterday’s Washington Post about D.C.’s Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library that’s both heartwarming and discouraging:
Semret Yacob and her daughters, Herani, 7, and Alem, 8, sit at a table in the second-floor children’s section of the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library. They are engrossed in Alem’s math homework. Across the room, Joel Munoz sits by himself, reading “Escape From Earth, Voyages Through Time.” The fifth-grader, who wants to be an astronaut, likes books about space. “I just love reading,” he says …
Today, the library is like a fading Hollywood actress: her beauty impaired by a frail body, but her spirit vibrant as ever. Paint is peeling, pipes are leaking, windows don’t open, radiators are broken. The 20-year-old carpet in the children’s section is so rumpled that children trip on it. The water bubblers are shut off while officials await results of lead testing. The air conditioning leaks. Toilet doors don’t close properly. The basement floods periodically because of sewer backups in the street. Even so, Mount Pleasant is not on the city’s new renovation list. Despite its flaws, it is less decrepit than others in the system.
Complete article [registration required].
been there
I worked at this library for two years. It’s as bad as they say. If it were completely renovated it could be a showplace for the DCPL system. The need for library services there is enormous, as it is all over the city. It’s a shame that funding has been so low for such a long time. Sadly, substandard facilities are the rule rather than the exception. The people of DC need to say with one voice, “This is unacceptable.” Residents do seem to be making themselves heard more, but a lot more work and a lot more funding is needed.