As Temporary Branch Debuts in Midtown Manhattan, Residents Protest Loss of Donnell Library

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 04/30/2009

• Smaller library no substitute
• New Teen Central
• Big questions over library funding in general 

Typically, when libraries generate protestors it's because a building is about to be closed. Yesterday, however, when the New York Public Library (NYPL) debuted a spiffy and already well-used temporary library, the Grand Central branch, the scene was different. Some two dozen picketers from the West 54-55 Street Block Association, carried signs saying "Save the Donnell! Don't let developers devour our libraries."

Grand Central, serves in part as a replacement for the much larger Donnell Library, closed after a November 2007 real estate deal with a hotel company. The deal went sour—some combination of bad luck and bad judgment, depending on whom you ask—and the company, Orient-Express Hotels, is now discussing a settlement with NYPL. The protesters hope that Donnell can be reopened, though that's not on NYPL's radar screen.

(Photos by Norman Oder)

And while the new branch offers adult collections and a new Teen Central, with other Donnell functions dispersed (e.g., film/video, children's), the two facilities are not close. LJ walked between the two in a brisk 16 minutes, but for kids or seniors it would be a longer and more precarious trek, given heavily-trafficked midtown. In fact, there's an existing small branch even closer to Donnell.

At the opening
Yesterday's opening event had all the marks of a celebration: a Dixieland combo, NYPL's Lion mascot in full fur, free food and drink, and a packed house of neighbors, NYPL staff, and civic luminaries. But as the program began, a few of the protesters eased their way inside with their signs. They even heckled occasionally as NYPL Chairwoman Catherine Marron and President Paul LeClerc made their remarks.
 
"Save the Donnell," one blurted. "What about the people in the neighborhood of the old library?" muttered RitaSue Siegel, an officer in the block association. A few audience members chided the protestors for their rudeness, especially when they interrupted the college student who saluted the new Teen Central and reflected on his valuable experiences at NYPL.

Marron and LeClerc and the other NYPL folk ignored the hecklers. City Council Member Dan Garodnick called the new building a "great resource" for the Murray Hill and Turtle Bay neighborhoods, raising some eyebrows, given that those neighborhoods don't include the blocks where the protestors live.

The new library obviously meets some needs; the computers were already being used, the Teen Central was full, and, after three days, announced branch manager Jennifer Knode (who honored each branch staffer, including the pages, by name, in her brief speech), the library had signed up 200 cardholders.

Protest demands
The protestors complain (as has Community Board 5) that the Donnell deal proceeded in secret, without consultation or governmental oversight. NYPL, while a nonprofit organization, gets most of its funding for branches from the city.

Can the City Council do anything? LJ spoke to City Council Member Vincent Gentile, who chairs the Subcommittee on Libraries and was at the event. "The people at the Donnell site are concerned that it be reopened," he said, after several residents buttonholed him. "In my discussions with NYPL, they have assured me that they are committed, absolutely committed to having a library at that site and are now working on negotiations to make that happen."

Can the Council offer more oversight over the way NYPL and other libraries handle their real estate? "That's something we can investigate," he said, hedging somewhat, "to the extent we have oversight." Gentile made a distinction between property owned by the library system and sites the city has leased for them. "We may not have direct oversight," he said of the Donnell site, "but certainly we have an interest in having a library there. That is where the city can rightfully ask questions about what is coming on that site." 

Funding for NYC libraries
While the Donnell closing has sparked local outrage, it's only part of a larger story over the immediate future of NYPL. 

"People are concerned about having six-day service, or even five-day service, given the budget numbers that the mayor is suggesting," Gentile said. "We're about $35-$40 million off for all three [New York City library] systems.We have to really look to restore some of that money."

The mayoral budget emerges May 1. "Then the real negotiations start," Gentile said.