SPOKANE'S CENTRAL LIBRARY IS A DANGEROUS, DIRTY, $33 MILLION DOLLAR DISGRACE.
$33 Million Renovation
669 Calls to 911
Welcome to Spokane Central Library
@Spokane spent $33 million on the Spokane Central Library renovation.
We were promised a beautiful state of-the-art public library.
A production studio
A recording studio
A video studio
An art studio
A business Lab
A computer lab
Meeting rooms
Study rooms
Children’s library
Central Library should be one of the crown jewels of Spokane.
Instead, it now operates as a low-barrier day shelter with books.
When the renovation was finished, I walked through it for the first time. It was beautiful, light, open. Full of possibility. Everything we had been promised and more.
Central was going to be our Girl Scout troop’s new meeting place. The girls were fifth-graders. The perfect age for a place like this to open new worlds.
The Parents were hesitant about downtown and parking. It took more than a few conversations to convince them. The library agreed to let parents use the garage for pick-up and drop-off at no cost.
I reserved a room online. I was given a code.
The girls were dropped off. We went to the room. I opened the door.
It was full of people.
People were on the floor. On the tables. The room was trashed. There was food everywhere.
There were syringes.
I went to staff. Then security.
They were both disinterested blasé and not willing to engage with me or help
It was: sorry, nothing we can do.
That was the end of our Girl Scout meetings at the library.
And the problems started before we even made it inside.
Parents dropping off their fifth-grade daughters had to walk through several people that appeared to be high or in crisis. One appeared to be overdosing.
When parents came back to pick up their girls, there was a fight at the entrance. Police were arriving on scene.
Fifth-grade girls.
At the library.
Downtown Spokane Library now permits bringing your street dogs into the library An adult male crashing at the Spokane Downtown Library Bring all your stuff and spread out at the Downtown Spokane Library Spokane's Downtown Library is a dystopian nightmare
I spoke about it at City Council. The following day, Library Executive Director Andrew Chanse called me. He apologized. He said they had a problem with people reserving rooms and not leaving. He said they were working to identify who they were so they could block them from reserving rooms.
Later, I attended a full-day seminar at Central. It started before the library opened. I watched the doors open. The building filled immediately. Every seat taken.Throughout the day, food, soda, and other items were handed out. 3 large dogs also occupied the library with their owners.
And on Mondays, Community Court is held there too.
So what exactly is our Central library now?
A library.
A no-barrier day shelter.
A crisis site.
A courthouse annex.
Right now, it is trying to be all of them.
City Hall needs to publish the numbers.
How much did Central spend last year on Community Court support, security, social workers, cleanup, damage, and biohazard response?
How many calls for police, fire, and medical response have come from Central Library?
I know of at least one person who overdosed and died in the bathroom. Another was found by a child. Somehow none of this ever makes the news.
Thanks to Marsha Michaelis, we now have part of the answer.
669 calls to 911 from Central Library in the last 18 months. The photo below shows page 1 of 16 (see below).
That is more than one every day (see call log below).
THREATS. TRESPASSING. ASSAULT. SUICIDE. WARRANTS. DRUGS. DISORDER. SEX CRIMES.
At a library.
How many families stopped coming?
How many people gave up?
Because that is what happens.
Most people do not make speeches at City Council. They do not file public records requests. They do not write posts like this.
They just stop coming.
And when the public stops coming our city leaders get to pretend nothing is wrong.
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There have been 669 different 911 calls to the Downtown Spokane Public Library in the last 18 months (photo shows page 1 of 16). That's more than one every single day. Threats, trespassing, assault, suicide, warrants, drugs, disorder, sex crimes.
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