Providence Library War Heats Up
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The battle between two organizations over control over most of the public library facilities in Providence is set to spill out into the open again today.
At stake is ownership of seven neighborhood libraries across the city. The Providence Public Library (PPL) has been renting them essentially free to the Providence Community Library association (PCL) for two years, after the latter organization formed to keep them open. In exchange for paying just $1 in rent, the PCL has been running the libraries.
Now, it is demanding that the Public Library transfer ownership of the seven buildings.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMarcus Mitchell, the chairman of the PCL, said the Public Library had agreed to turn over the buildings two years ago—and has been dragging its feet ever since then. Today, the PCL will hold a rally at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall to turn up the pressure on PPL to relinquish control over the buildings. City Council President Michael Solomon and other PCL supporters on the council are scheduled to attend what is the latest salvo in a very public and bitter fight between the two nonprofit organizations.
Negotiations hit a roadblock
The PCL and PPL recently agreed to a six-month extension of the two-year-old rent agreement, giving them more time to determine how the buildings will be transferred.
“The extension was designed to give the City time and flexibility to craft a workable arrangement that includes staffing, equipment, books, buildings, and other critically important community library services,” Mason added.
She said the city also wanted to wait for the passage of the 2012 budget, which occurred on Monday.
But negotiations have hit a road block, Mitchell said, over whether the PPL will be paid for the buildings. He said that was never part of the original deal, struck two years ago.
Public Library ‘increasingly alarmed’
Mason did not specifically address the issue of payment for the buildings, but she did raise concerns about how the PCL has been running the libraries.
“We are becoming increasingly alarmed that the PCL operates behind closed doors, its books hidden, its executive director quitting abruptly, and rather than managing the branch system in a way that protects the City’s neighborhood libraries for generations to come, the PCL seems instead intent on continuing with a misleading, negative propaganda campaign,” Mason said.
Mitchell denied those accusations, saying PCL meetings have been held in open and that its books are public records. He said the former executive director resigned after taking medical leave of absence.
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