As those of you living in Washington know, the D.C. Public Library is a neglected gem –
on Monday the Washington Post’s Marc Fisher pointed out part of the problem:
Too many of the mayor’s pipe dreams (leaded or unleaded) get clogged up and die. But now, the mayor’s agenda features something small enough to be achieved and big enough to make a difference — reviving the city’s sad library system. Two springs ago in this space, I detailed the pathetic state of the libraries — unkempt, thin collections; sagging buildings; an utter failure to capitalize on the system’s stellar real estate holdings.
But as often happens in Washington, a wall of political interests stood between a vision and progress. Biggest obstacle: the library’s board of trustees, whose members are, according to Leonard Minsky, director of [The D.C. Library Renaissance Project], “illiterate, dysfunctional, so famously incompetent that nobody in the country wants to work with them.”
Complete story. Fisher’s faith in developers is naive at best, but he’s right that the current board is a major stumbling block to real change.
What’s Wrong With the Developer?
Why is his faith in the developer naive? It sounds like even the Nader group is for the developer’s appointment.
Untrustworthies
Why are they letting members of congress serve on a library board of trustees? You’d think they’d know better.