A Library!

One of my students asked me today if I still maintain my blog site. The answer is, "Yes, M----, I'm still posting." (notice the use of a comma before starting a quote in mid-sentence.) There's a lot going on in school, church, and city.

A little less than a year ago, I joined in the multitude of voices from Chinatown advocating the case for a local branch library by testifying at City Hall. Well, after that hearing, about $350,000 was earmarked for an exploratory task force to study the feasibility of opening a library branch in Chinatown. Finally, after many months, our library task force met for the first time, last Thursday. Our meeting was mostly introductory, but we laid out a time-table that stretches to a couple of years. It's pretty exciting that we're interviewing architectural firms soon, but no construction will occur for at least 2 years.

"I fully support the restoration of a BPL branch in Chinatown. In order to do so, we need to create an ad hoc committee to advocate for the library, implement strategies used in successful models in LA and Oakland, research and locate a proper location, lobby the mayor to set aside capital funding, and lobby for state and federal funding after securing mayoral support." -- the Mayor's Chinatown Library Task Force, as described by Councilor Matt O'Malley

Chinatown Library, as seen in L.A.

I was asked, as a teacher, what I would like in a Chinatown library. Well, it would be great to have internet access for research, as well as a significant collection of young adult literature. Seeing that we are in Chinatown, it would also be appropriate for there to be books printed in Chinese in the stacks. I'm not sure I believe anymore, as I said in my testimony at City Hall, that a library will help to curtail violence in the city. It seems kind of a ridiculous stretch to claim that. However, I do think that a library will improve the quality of education and life in this corner of the city. Maybe that will have an indirect impact on youth related crimes.

It's funny that the building my school occupies is being bid for by several groups, including my church, my apartment building's developer, and friends of the library campaign. People often ask me, "When are you moving out?" All I can say is that we've been slated for demolition for several years now. Who knows if we'll ever move out. It's amazing how much demand for land there is here and how little of it there is.

No matter where it is, wouldn't it be awesome to have a library in Chinatown? It's probably not even one of the most important things that God desires for this corner of the city, but being involved in this is one of way to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city" to which God has carried me. (Jer. 29:7)