NYC public advocate and Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio has weighed in on the controversy surrounding the expansion plans for the main branch of the NY Public Library. At a recent news conference, Mr. de Blasio stated that he feels that “plans seem to have been made without any forethough to the building’s historical and cultural intergrity.” He also felt that a close eye had to be kept on the $300 million budget for the planned renovations.
This objection by de Blasio plus a lawsuit filed last week by a group of writers and scholars who objected to moving reference materials to other locations, which will not be heard by the courts until the fall, threatens to endanger plans for the Fifth Avenue site.
The library’s chairman, Neil Rudenstine, believes that these renovations are necessary because books in the stacks and at the Mid-Manhattan library are deteriorating. He also has stated that these plans will “generate funding to provide more books, librarians, and programs.”
Big or small, all libraries seem to have their problems.