Authorizing City Council's Public Property Committee to hold public hearings on the needs of the Central Library with regard to capital improvements and issues related to the ability of the Central Library to fulfill its mission in light of changing community needs.

WHEREAS, The Free Library is near completion of renovating and outfitting all branch and regional libraries so they can meet the needs of communities in the 21st century; and

WHEREAS, The Central Library has inadequate space for the exploding world of new information technologies, including public training equipment and programming to help bridge the digital divide; and

WHEREAS, The Central Library has insufficient space to meet demand for children's services, including programming, books and other materials, and computers; and

WHEREAS, There is insufficient public programming space in the Central Library for lectures, discussion groups and performances; and

WHEREAS, The Central Library has collections which are inaccessible to the public because of lack of proper shelf space; and

WHEREAS, Numerous valuable and unique collections in the Central Library are endangered by improper storage space and climatic controls; now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That authority be given to the Public Property Committee to hold public hearings on capital improvement needs of the Central Library and issues related to the ability of the Central Library to fulfill its mission in light of changing community needs.

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