Updated November 6, 2009

Final Report of the Hamline Midway Library Task Force
Please note that these are large files, particularly the Appendix.  If you have a slower internet connection, please be patient and/or visit the library to review a hard copy of the report.

• Final Report
• Appendix

Task Force Documents
Meeting Documents

• September 28 Task Force Meeting Minutes
• September 14 Task Force Meeting Minutes
• August 24 Task Force Meeting Minutes
  
• August 10 Task Force Meeting Minutes

• August 6 Community Meeting Minutes
• July 27 Task Force Meeting Minutes
  

• July 13 Task Force Meeting Minutes

Resources

• Resource referenced in August 24 Task Force meeting conversation regarding the future of libraries and technology
• One Plus One Equals Three: Joint-Use Libraries in Urban Areas--The Ultimate Form of Library Cooperation (posted with permission of the American Library Association)
• Joint Use Libraries Get Analysis and Encouragement
• A Tale of Two Libraries (see page 9 of document)
• Building for Campus and Community
• Creating Joint-Use Agreements That Work
• A Library for All

Task Force Members' Resource Binder Contents

• Facilities Plan
• Hamline Midway Library Survey
• Saint Paul Public Library Strategic Plan Goals
• Saint Paul Public Library Outcome Measures
• Saint Paul Library Facts and Figures
• Hamline Midway Library Demographics
• Library Usage Data by Agency (HA=Hamline Midway)
• Library Response to Community Revenue/Savings Suggestions

Members:

Connie Springer, resident

Olaf Runquist, resident

Ben Grove, resident

Carrie Pomeroy, resident

Jodie Double, resident

Hamline University representative: Dan Loritz, Vice President of University relations 
                                                 (substitute: JacQui Getty)

Hancock Elementary representative: Marjorie Abrams
                                                    (substitute: Craig Anderson)

Snelling Avenue Business representative: Kathy Sundberg

Saint Paul Parks & Rec representative: Susie Odegard

Hamline Midway Coalition representative #1: Jun-Li Wang
Hamline Midway Coalition representative #2: Brad Bentcover
Library Staff #1: Alice Neve

Library Staff #2: Katrina Hartz Taylor

Core team:

Councilmember Russ Stark
Samantha Henningson, Legislative Aide to Councilmember Stark
Jun-Li Wang, Hamline Midway Coalition
Michael Jon Olson, Hamline Midway Coalition
Debbie Willms, Saint Paul Public Library
Kit Hadley, Director, Saint Paul Public Library

Facilitators:
Roger Meyer of Meyer Consulting
Pamela Bakken Anderson & Mark Wentzell of 292 design group

In order to engage the community in developing a positive outcome for the future of the Hamline Midway Library, the City of Saint Paul has initiated a Hamline Midway Library Task Force and has hired consultants to facilitate the Task Force’s work. If it wasn’t clear before, the recent proposed closure of the Hamline Midway Library elicited an overwhelming response from the neighborhood that the Library is a highly valued community asset. At the moment, major City budget adjustments are primarily on hold until the Legislature wraps up, and the City’s Local Government Aid status is clarified later in the summer. The Mayor has committed to keeping the library open through the end of 2009.

The closure of Hamline Midway Library has been proposed many times over the years as a way to reduce costs during difficult budget times. It is a smaller branch library, and compared to some other parts of the City, the libraries in the western half of Saint Paul are closer together. This process is an opportunity to stabilize the library (and possibly other) services that can be offered at this location for the long-term, and aims to avoid continued threats of complete closure of the library. The upcoming community process will provide space to think and plan proactively for programming in the building that can reduce costs to the City, as well as serve as a model for processes for other libraries in Saint Paul.

The core management team of the Task Force will include Councilmember Russ Stark’s office, the Library Department, and Hamline Midway Coalition. The timeline for this process will be compact: the process will be completed by September 25, 2009, in time for the City Council’s budget process for 2010. The completed process will result in cost reduction, revenue creation and/or partnership scenarios and implementation strategies that meet the needs of the community and reduce costs to the City of Saint Paul.

The 13 member Task Force will work with the facilitator to assess what current library services that are provided are critical and what services are lacking in the neighborhood and might be a good addition. Part of the facilitator’s work, in collaboration with the Task Force, will be to widely gather community input from current library users and non-users. This will be done via at least one public meeting as well as other channels. One goal will be to find partners that can work with the library to meet the expressed needs of the community while sharing the expense of running and operating the facility with the City of Saint Paul. We are optimistic that the result of this community-driven process will result in a vision of library service that will make the Hamline-Midway Library even stronger and more vital.

Once the process is complete, Library Department and others will pursue opportunities identified by the Task Force that meet community needs and fit within the budget constraints of the City of St. Paul.

Contact Samantha Henningson, Legislative Aide to Councilmember Stark, with questions. Email her or call her at 651-266-8641.