At its meeting this evening, the Lansing city council will consider a resolution that would discourage the Capital Area District Libraries from relocating out of the downtown area.
Council member Peter Spadafore introduced the measure, which specifically opposes any move to the suburbs.
“If we move out of downtown, where it's extremely accessible, to someplace in the suburbs, or the townships surrounding the city, where there there's only one bus line or no bus lines, we've severely limited access to a very vital community resource” said Spadafore.
The library district leases its current downtown building from the local school system. CADL Executive Director, Jenny Marr said the structure is aging and maintenance costs are spiraling.
Marr said the library board is currently working with community partners to identify a new sustainable location for the library that minimizes the financial burden.
“We're at a crossroads, where we're either going to have to spend that money on, putting it into trying to keep this building functioning, or we can put it into investing in more assets for CADL and diversifying our locations, which just seems to make more fiscal sense,” Marr said.
Marr said libraries are increasingly shifting to smaller neighborhood centers that focus on accessibility through various transportation options, including public transit, walkability, and parking.
“We've been putting a disproportionate amount of funding towards this building we would rather spend that in diversifying into smaller locations and to be able to meet people where they're at more in the community.” she said.
Council member Spadafore is pushing back against plans to move the library, saying, "to support moving it out of the city is not an option”.
Marr said she expects the move to take place in stages, and that it will be a couple years before it’s complete.
Both Marr and Spadafore said the relocation of the library is a decision that will require a lot of input from community partners.