Williams Details Library Funding

Mayor Anthony A. Williams provided new details yesterday on his plans to pump money into the city's dilapidated library system, proposing to renovate branch libraries, extend operating hours and build a main library on the site of the old convention center.

His spending plan, released Tuesday, would boost the D.C. Public Library's operating budget by almost $8 million, which would pay for new materials, computers and furnishings and partially restore Sunday hours. The budget also proposes $16.25 million for systemwide renovations, including major ones to the Petworth, Southeast, Washington Highlands and main downtown libraries.

Williams (D) also plans to ask the D.C. Council for an additional $5.5 million in the current fiscal year for painting, replacing carpeting and other cosmetic changes beyond usual maintenance budgets, said Monica Lewis, library system spokeswoman.

More than $450 million is needed to properly fix the District's public library system, a task force said this year, because the buildings suffer from years of neglect and should be almost entirely rebuilt. Four of the 27 libraries are closed, and the system has been without a permanent leader for nearly three years.

"This will go a long way in implementing some of the things suggested in the blue-ribbon panel's report," John W. Hill, chairman of the library board, said of the mayor's budget.

The city's $16.25 million would be matched by federal funding. This year, President Bush proposed spending $30 million in federal funds to help the city's struggling libraries. First lady Laura Bush, a former librarian, is a strong supporter of D.C. libraries.

The recent attention to the system's needs has borne fruit even before any dirt has been turned, Hill said, with several top-notch candidates interested in running the system and overseeing the changes. Two years ago, a national search for a director ended in failure.

"It's amazing what the difference is," he said, adding that the board hopes to name a new director shortly.

The mayor's budget also describes how the city would pay for a new landmark central library, although it does not appropriate any money toward the project. Under the plan, proceeds from leasing the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, at Ninth and G streets NW, would be used to pay part of the cost of the new library, which a mayoral-appointed task force estimated at $180 million. Hill said the lease payments could contribute up to $100 million.

Library supporters also hope to fund a $100 million maintenance endowment for a new central library.

Williams and the library board, which he appointed, say that a top-quality main library would draw people to the area around the now-demolished convention center. They also say that the King library lacks the openness and flexible programming space that are the hallmarks of 21st-century libraries, and that it cannot be renovated and rewired to adequately serve today's patrons. Any new main library would also be named after the civil rights leader.

Others say the current main library, designed by legendary architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, could be renovated into a workable library or other public building. Preservationists and the city have nominated the building for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The mayor's budget includes $640,000 for expanding library hours, which is not enough to add Sunday service to all branches. Lewis said she did not know how many branches would be able to add hours.

"We have not sat down and done the long division,'' she said.

Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), chairman of the Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation, said the mayor's plan meets two of her priorities for the library system.

"I'm delighted to see the restoration of Sunday hours included in the budget and delighted to see the $5 million to fix up branch libraries this year,'' Patterson said.