The Minneapolis Public Library and Information Center (MPL) was a library system serving the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. It was founded as the publicly traded Minneapolis Athenæum in 1860 and became a free public library in 1885 founded by T. B. Walker. In 2008, the library was merged into the Hennepin County Library.
The library at the time of its merger with Hennepin County Library in 2008 included a central facility downtown and fourteen branch libraries.[1] Each library also had a staff member who was assigned to local schools to discuss the services available at the library. According to the 2004 board report, the collection numbered about 3.1 million items with about 2.2 million of these housed in the central library.
The Minneapolis Public Library joined the Hennepin County Library under the latter name on January 1, 2008; the last meeting of the Minneapolis Public Library Board of Trustees took place on December 19, 2007.
Unusual for a public library, MPL used the Library of Congress Classification. The oldest materials were cataloged using the Dewey Decimal System; around 1890, the library switched to the early and short-lived Putnam classification system, developed by famed Minneapolis Librarian, Herbert Putnam. He later became Librarian of Congress, and revised his Putnam system into the current Library of Congress methodology.
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The Minneapolis Athenaeum was a private library that traded on the stock market. After he moved to Minneapolis, T. B. Walker, who was a stock holder, bought memberships and gave them away, raising the objections of other stock holders. But the technique worked, and soon the city financed a free public library with a one mill property tax.[2]
After Minneapolis voters approved a $140 million package to improve library services on November 7, 2000, many renovation projects were begun. The new Central Library building, designed by Cesar Pelli, along with the Minneapolis firm Architectural Alliance,[3][4] opened to the public on May 20, 2006. At a cost of $250 per square foot, the library features a host of energy-efficient measures, including a roof garden and substantial daylight. While the building was under construction, most services were provided at the interim Central Library Marquette location, located on two floors in Marquette Plaza (formerly the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). Cost of providing an interim site while the old library was demolished and rebuilt exceeded $10 million.
Until the 2002 closure and demolition of the old central library, the Minneapolis Planetarium Society found its home there, possessing a projector machine literally older than the space age itself (delivered and installed originally in 1954, three years before the launch of Sputnik I). In 2005, the Minnesota Legislature apportioned funding for the inclusion of a planetarium in the new Central Library building. As of May 2007, a 37,000-square-foot (3,400 m2) Minnesota Planetarium Society is planned for the roof of the new building.[5]
The 2002 referendum also included funds to renovate community libraries, supplementing an existing program. The fourteen branches and their renovation status are:
Improvements are in the works for Nokomis, Northeast, Roosevelt, Southeast, Walker, Washburn, and Webber Park Libraries. Some locations (such as Roosevelt and Nokomis) may be consolidated at one location, and "express" library services along major transportation routes are also a possibility. The framework for the future of the library is a document called Outlook 2010.[21]
The Central, Franklin, East Lake Regional, Roosevelt and Nokomis Libraries are easily accessed from the Hiawatha Line. All locations are either wheelchair-accessible or will be after renovation.
Outlook Twenty Ten: A Discussion Plan to Improve All Minneapolis Community Libraries was a framework for discussion submitted to the Minneapolis Public Library Board of the Minneapolis Public Library System in July, 1999.[22] Outlook Twenty Ten was drafted in anticipation of the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota approving a 140 million dollar referendum in 2000.[23] The framework was submitted to the Minneapolis Public Library Board by Amy Ryan, Chief of Community Libraries. When the referendum was approved in November, 2000, the Library Board turned to the plan. The referendum designated 110 million dollars to creating a new Central Library.[23] The other 30 million dollars were to go to improvements of community libraries. The plan contained a profile of each of the 14 community libraries, including highlights of patron surveys.[22] It also contained at least three suggestions for every community library, entitled Options 'A', 'B', 'C' and onward. The majority of the libraries have been renovated or repaired. An update on the plan came out in 2004, detailing the statuses of the libraries, and presenting a timeline for their completions.[24]
Despite city funding and generous taxpayer support, the library had suffered from reduced funding from external sources, including the federal government and the State of Minnesota. Hours have been drastically cut and money for acquisitions has sharply declined in the 2000s. Because Minnesota library card holders can borrow from other systems in the state, MPL also faced competition from the Hennepin County Library (HCL), which is remodeling its three regional locations in partnership with other government services. In 2007, the Minneapolis Library Board agreed to pursue a merger with the county system. The Minneapolis Library Board and Minneapolis City Council approved the merger in March 2007, the Hennepin County Board approved the merger in April 2007, and on May 19, 2007 the Minnesota State Legislature approved a bill merging the systems during 2008. The merged system is the Hennepin County Library with 41 locations.[25]
Adamson v. Minneapolis Public Library is a civil complaint of 23 March 2003 by a dozen librarians against the library's management for a claimed failure to prevent sexual harassment over many years by library patrons having unlimited use of library computers for accessing pornography. The case followed an EEOC determination on 23 May 2001 that "the Respondent did subject the Charging Party to sexually hostile work environment. This is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended," according to: "EEOC Determination Re: Unrestricted Internet Access Policy of Minneapolis Public Library Creates Sexually Hostile Work Environment."
The case settled when the library agreed to pay them $435,000 and take corrective action to prevent further harassment.
Many of the buildings built by the Minneapolis Public Library system are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In some cases, the libraries have been demolished and moved to new, more modern buildings.
Of this list, all but the North Branch library were built under the leadership of the city's head librarian, Gratia Countryman. Franklin, Sumner, and Thirty-Sixth Street were built with funds from Andrew Carnegie.[26]
There were 11 full-time directors in the history of the MPL. Katherine G. Hadley was the last one serving from 2003 to the merger with Hennepin County Library on January 1, 2008.
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