At its beginning in 1993, the Library Foundation planned to raise money to build a more conventional city library operated exclusively by the city. A combined city/school library was not considered. The Foundation believed that the existing city library, a storefront structure of 1500 square feet, was inadequate to provide the services expected in a modern library. The old library’s collection of books and periodicals was crowded into narrow aisles. It did not provide handicap accessibility or comply with current building codes. A single table with four chairs in the back room comprised the public reading area. The library was limited to 27 hours of operation per week.
In February, Lowen Clausen proposed to the Library Foundation a combined or joint-use city/school library adjacent to the school, and volunteered to supervise design and construction of the new combined library. Clausen had previously discussed this idea with our school superintendent and with the mayor, and both had responded favorably to the idea. Neighboring communities had doubled or tripled their library operating costs after building new libraries, which would be a prohibitive cost increase for St. Paul. However, by combining the budgets of the two existing libraries, Clausen believed they could operate a new library that was more than triple the combined size of the two existing libraries without significant cost increases.
In addition to costs, Clausen was also concerned that a traditional public library would limit access to its most important customers—the community’s children. School children could visit the library only after school, on weekends, and during the summer, which would be the times when the library would face the most pressure to curtail hours of operation. The Foundation agreed with Clausen’s proposal. After substantial discussions with the city and school representatives, the Library Foundation officially announced in April 1996 the decision to build a new library adjacent to the school, and to combine the city and school libraries into one joint-use library. The St. Paul City Council and the St. Paul School Board voted unanimously to approve both the joint-use library and the inter-local operating agreement prepared by representatives from the city and school.
Written by Lowen Clausen
In February, Lowen Clausen proposed to the Library Foundation a combined or joint-use city/school library adjacent to the school, and volunteered to supervise design and construction of the new combined library. Clausen had previously discussed this idea with our school superintendent and with the mayor, and both had responded favorably to the idea. Neighboring communities had doubled or tripled their library operating costs after building new libraries, which would be a prohibitive cost increase for St. Paul. However, by combining the budgets of the two existing libraries, Clausen believed they could operate a new library that was more than triple the combined size of the two existing libraries without significant cost increases.
In addition to costs, Clausen was also concerned that a traditional public library would limit access to its most important customers—the community’s children. School children could visit the library only after school, on weekends, and during the summer, which would be the times when the library would face the most pressure to curtail hours of operation. The Foundation agreed with Clausen’s proposal. After substantial discussions with the city and school representatives, the Library Foundation officially announced in April 1996 the decision to build a new library adjacent to the school, and to combine the city and school libraries into one joint-use library. The St. Paul City Council and the St. Paul School Board voted unanimously to approve both the joint-use library and the inter-local operating agreement prepared by representatives from the city and school.
Written by Lowen Clausen