As predicted, the bookseller Borders filed for bankruptcy today. Whether the store in the Shoppes will remain open is unknown at this point. Private booksellers all over the country struggle as Peoria voters asked and the City Council granted power seeking Library Board members to spend approximately $40 million ($27 million the city didn't have plus 20-30 years interest, all to be paid by a largely misled property tax payer). Most of the yes voters supporting this $40 million dollar boondoggle, and some Councilpeople like Eric Turner, by his own admission, hadn't set foot in a library for years.
This money built a new library along Rt. 6 inaccessible by bike or foot, renovation of the downtown library; this library was considered for closing in 2000 because of underuse, (usage has actually declined unless you count the homeless who now take up the expensive casual seating) massive improvements to underutilized Lincoln Library, including $600,000+ to remove bodies from graves the "experts" don't know were there. And these "experts" are highly paid?
Good grief!
A million or so was spent for underutilized McClure Library and additional $7 million would have been spent if it wasn't for my efforts to sway the vote of one councilman, 5 yes and 6 nays, to wait and see what the effect the new library off Allen Rd. would have on the "claimed" overuse of Lakeview Library.
My company furnished the Lakeview Library and I have been a consistent visitor to all Peoria Public Libraries, including the now closed Taft Homes Library, the now closed River West Library and the once highly hyped and now closed Southside Library.
An un-informed and beleaguered (exactly the same services for the minorities, whether they use them or not) City Council approved an $80,000 elevator to the second floor at Southside, accessible only if the head librarian was available, she was the guardian of the key that operated the elevator, and monitored by an expensive security system. And did I say used only for the storage of pottery items, 4 computers, some that didn't work and male and female restrooms. Restrooms and storage was also available on the first floor.
The main point of this blog is to call attention to how propaganda can sway the voter most recently displayed by the $600,000 plus spent to "educate" the public on the value of museums when we already had a centrally located museum, the envy of many communities our size.
To promote the library expansions, then Journal Star Editorial Board member Shelley Epstein wrote a series of articles, based on his blatantly false information supplied by library supporters to pursue the promoting this eventual $40 million expenditure at a time when chain companies like bookseller Borders are failing and Waldenbooks have closed at Northwoods. Barnes and Noble appear to be doing well largely because of the success of their electronic book which eventually leads to less space needed for books.
Meanwhile Peoria expands it's library systems putting the City further in debt while kids are reading less hard cover books, the private tax-paying sector is financially hurting and computer users come to the library to use computers furnished by property tax payers so they don't "wear" out their computers at home.
Meanwhile, by a very close referendum vote, Dunlap built a beautiful new Library barely 5 miles from the new Peoria Library off Allen road. My visits and comments of other visitors indicate this new expanded library is, as predicted, very underutilized.
It is understandable that in hard times, more "free" public facilities are in demand.
However, all recessions eventually end as taxes continue to rise and regulations on the private sector become more restrictive, the taxpayer may be awakening.
In Peoria, it is getting late in the game.We may have all these envied amenities but NONE of them are as yet debt free.
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