Its wild.. it blows my mind how many books are just forgotten or left for so many reasons when there are so many people in so many places all over the world that could have used them.
What I wouldn't give for just one of those card catalog cabinets. And for some reason, that library in Detroit makes me especially sad. It's not just been abandoned, it's been vandalized.
Wow, after reading the history on that Detroit library, I feel even sadder. The damn thing only lasted 40 years, due to governmental mismanagement and neglect. Apparently the building maintenance was so poor that the library had to be shut down and moved to a church basement while they tried to raise funds to rehab the building, then used the money raised to save the library for other public projects, while refusing to disclose where the money was going. Meanwhile, the roof was full of holes and water was pouring into the building with mold growing everywhere, until the building was no longer salvageable and had to be torn down.
Infuriating -- on top of being totally heartbreaking even without the back story.
Where did the money that was initially intended for the library building come from? What *were* the original donors told it was being used for? Did any of them ask for their money to be returned after it became clear it was not being used for the library after all?
The index shelves are really neat I always thought one would be cool to get a hold of. The whole story into Detroit and its surrounding buildings and what has happened to the community is really heartbreaking.
I didn't understand the term used in the article I read - clearly Michigan uses a different kind of public financing than we do here in Texas, but essentially, the city officials talked the public into voting to approve the kind of public financing where the city borrows from private investors. Not at all uncommon for expensive, unbudgeted infrastructure work, but it's also not uncommon for the government to then redirect the money for other purposes, or to hide expenses for something the public wouldn't approve in a big proposal for something the voters would approve, like roads and libraries and parks. It's always for such complex long-term projects that the public may not be able to track what money is spent where, unless you have an aggressive free press to hold them accountable.
From what I read, it seems that no visible work was being done over a decade after the expense was approved, but when asked about it at public meetings, government officials just make vague assurances that the work was "in progress", with various excuses, like asbestos abatement, etc.
This is the kind of dealings that have many of our cities in financial trouble. Elected officials badly mismanage things, but we keep re-electing them because we're too disengaged to hold them accountable. And eventually, the tax base flees, and they run out of money because they've mortgaged the future, and it all falls apart.
That is just wild. It breaks my heart that there are so many words left unread, so many stories untold when there are individuals who would love to open those pages. Thanks for sharing!
I know I apologize about that I tried creating one of those background codes for the comment sections but it doesn't work on my page. May have to change the wallpaper to something else.
I couldn't figure out the code for a solid background on the comments, either, so I finally just found a wallpaper with a pattern that wasn't too busy. I always meant to go back and try to fix that, but never seem to get around to it.
Where did the money that was initially intended for the library building come from? What *were* the original donors told it was being used for? Did any of them ask for their money to be returned after it became clear it was not being used for the library after all?
From what I read, it seems that no visible work was being done over a decade after the expense was approved, but when asked about it at public meetings, government officials just make vague assurances that the work was "in progress", with various excuses, like asbestos abatement, etc.
This is the kind of dealings that have many of our cities in financial trouble. Elected officials badly mismanage things, but we keep re-electing them because we're too disengaged to hold them accountable. And eventually, the tax base flees, and they run out of money because they've mortgaged the future, and it all falls apart.