Skip to content

Top Columns

  1. Hermantown girls soccer turns section final disappointment into early-season motivation
  2. Scott Sandelin remains the foundation of Bulldog hockey
  3. Howie: Duluth Schools’ referendum will rise or fall on trust
  4. City of Duluth labor deals collide with 1% growth, squeezing the 2027 budget
  5. My latest book: Minnesota 2050
  6. Duluth searches for budget ‘bloat,’ but labor costs dominate projected shortfall
  7. Howie: The Monsters have unfinished business
  8. The newspaper that started it all
  9. The AI detector economy is chasing the wrong story
  10. Howie: Downtown Duluth's next chapter will be built with trust.
  11. Don Ness and the reinvention of Duluth
  12. Duluth's civic theatre at 6 and 10 p.m.
  13. Howie: Duluth needs summer more than ever
  14. Howie: Bayfront still may be Duluth’s best idea

Howie

Publish It! Roger Reinert's post on a proposed new Downtown Duluth library

1 MIN READ
Howie Hanson Howie Note: Howie's daily column is powered by Lyric Kitchen & Bar.
Duluth weather ––° Loading conditions Feels like ––° Wind –– NWS · Updating
Reinert

"The past news cycle has been full of headlines about a proposed $72,000,000 investment in the Downtown Duluth Library. I want to be clear – I’m a fan of libraries. I lived in them as a kid both during the school year and over the summer. I was always trying to win the “read the most books” competition. As an adult I’m always reading something - usually several somethings. And browsing little free libraries makes me happy.

But, as I said in this LWV Forum before the primary (watch here: https://bit.ly/45tTOWr), it is simply not our top priority right now. We have to rebuild trust with Duluth taxpayers, and the way we do that is by setting priorities and aligning resources accordingly. The remaining American Recovery Act (ARPA) funds and state bonding dollars should go to streets and utilities. A significant one-time generational investment that is way overdue.

There ARE pressing safety and maintenance issues at our Downtown library. I did a walk-along through Lakeside on Friday night with a Duluth parent and his 9 mo-old. Along with far too many others, he said, “I’m not taking my kids to the downtown library the way it is now.”

So, what’s a practical tangible step? Create an independent library board. A Board that can assess needs, set a long-range strategic plan for both programming and the facilities, support staff and hold leadership accountable for those priorities, and advocate for funding–public and private. Private donors are reluctant to give the City money for a host of valid reasons. And, within City Hall, the library continues to rank lower on the list of really pressing issues. An independent library board gets outside that structure. It’s the both/and we need to make progress."

Comments