Library Study Resolution
Friends of the JTSP Library
January 19, 2023
Whereas the DC Public Library (DCPL) Next Libris Facilities Master Plan 2021-2130 calls for one new library in Ward 4, and
Whereas DCPL is “gathering community feedback on the possibility of relocating the Shepherd Park/Juanita E. Thornton Library to the new Walter Reed development,” and
Whereas libraries are an essential public service providing direct and indirect benefits to the community, and
Whereas developing a new library or improving the existing one is a significant community event, and
Whereas before the community can understand the consequences of any change, it needs a thorough, independent, experienced analysis of related issues, and
Whereas those issues include current and potential library sites and services, staffing, and catchment areas, facility costs as well as best practices for libraries, and
Whereas an analysis should also include impact on businesses, transportation, including patron access, environmental consequences, and
Whereas such a study should include a systematic, professional effort to determine community attitudes, and
Whereas we celebrate the implied commitment to maintaining a Shepherd Park Library with the proposal of a Walter Reed-based library and are concerned that there is not enough information to understand the impact of moving the Juanita Thornton library at this time.
Therefore, the Friends of the Juanita Thornton-Shepherd Park Library calls upon our Council representatives and DCPL to commission in an expeditious manner an experienced, local planning firm to study current and proposed upper Ward 4 library services.
Adopted unanimously, January 19, 2023.