Editorial: Wichita Eagle Newspaper Comments on Building New Central Library

Here’s a bit of what the Wichita Eagle has to say in an editorial about a new central library.

Though it’s fine to see Wichita’s leaders debating the future of the Wichita Public Library, it’s important to realize that some of the best-sounding ideas already have been shelved because they would cost more than Wichita is willing to spend. That’s how Wichita settled on the cost-effective – and now seemingly stalled – proposal to build a new Central Library at Second and McLean.
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[Emphasis Ours] And though some wonder whether digital publishing will make libraries obsolete, not everything will be digitized. E-books are a small portion of library materials now and viewed as a format among many that the Wichita Public Library must deliver in the future.
“We’re being asked to circle back and affirm some of our due diligence,” library board president Steve Roberts acknowledged to The Eagle editorial board last week – noting the board doesn’t have a problem with that.
But as Wichita’s leaders revisit the question of what to do about the public library system, they need to consider the planning that already has occurred. They also should understand that any public library system worthy of the state’s largest city will take ample funding, and the political will to provide it.

Read the Complete Editorial

Filed under: Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries, Publishing