In the last in a series of public hearings, about 400 people packed the Winton Woods Middle School auditorium October 22 in an effort to keep the doors open at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Greenhills branch. In July, the library board proposed closing five branches to offset a $4.3-million budget shortfall–a move that which would save $1.5 million annually.
According to the October 23 Cincinnati Enquirer, the board also received more than 400 letters from Beechwoods Elementary School students who want the library to stay open. “We would have to drive to get to a library more than walking, riding bikes, skateboards, roller blades, and scooters,” 4th-grader Dominic Lindeman said at the hearing. “Everyone would have to pollute the air more than we already do.”
Greenhills Shopping Center manager Dennis Brennan, where the branch has been a tenant for 39 years, has offered the library board two years of free rent with the signing of a five-year lease. The landlord of the Elmwood Place branch, also threatened with closing, has presented a similar agreement. Other branches slated for possible closure are Bond Hill, Deer Park, and Mount Healthy.
A final decision on the rent offers and branch closures is expected November 11.
Posted October 28, 2002.