St. Paul Public Library’s Decision-Making Process

The Hamline Midway Library faces a pivotal moment in its storied history in 2022, as the City of St. Paul has secured funding of up to $8 million to either renovate and expand the current building or demolish it and build anew on the current site. To understand how and why we are faced with this unfortunate decision, the community must understand the lackluster, rushed and secretive engagement process that led to the City’s Community Improvement Budget (CIB) proposal in April 2021.

Prior to March 2021, just weeks before the CIB proposal was due, local residents were completely unaware that St. Paul Public Library (SPPL) intended to submit a proposal for new funding to improve the existing library. SPPL had begun a citywide Facilities Master Plan in late 2019, which included a single community meeting in January 2020 to address the needs of the Hamline Midway Library branch. To date, no minutes of that community meeting have been provided, and at the time SPPL had not made it known publicly that demolishing the building was a possible outcome. As part of the Facilities Master Plan, an Engagement Taskforce was created, including at least one member from the Ward 4 City Council office, and yet no details have ever been made public reflecting the work of this Taskforce. From January 2020 to March 2021, no engagement at all was done by SPPL to ensure a robust, meaningful discussion about such an enormous decision affecting our neighborhood library for decades to come. As part of the Facilities Master Plan, an online survey was done soliciting public feedback about libraries citywide, yet no detailed data exists from that survey that reflect the opinions of community members about a possible demolition of the library — or anything at all related to the future of the library.

Prior to SPPL presenting the public in March 2021 with the two options of renovation or demolition, no serious attempt was made by the City of St. Paul to explore the option of preserving the current building in order to repurpose it and build a new library elsewhere, despite efforts made by community members to put this option on the table. SPPL’s decision not to pursue a relocation of the Hamline Midway Library happened despite meetings as far back as 2018 between community members and SPPL leadership to explore the possibility of co-locating the library with our local rec center and elementary school. SPPL’s stance on co-location has been that it’s too costly, not feasible, and a security risk to the elementary school — all concerns that could be eased and solved if SPPL were willing to put this option on the table, something they have consistently refused to do. SPPL’s rationale for not exploring the repurposing of the current building is that there is no history of market-driven alternative uses for the building, even though no Request for Proposals have ever been put forth to the public to seek a new tenant, and despite the fact that the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul is a prime example of how a historic City-owned library can be repurposed for the benefit of the community.

In March 2021, just weeks before the CIB proposal was due seeking funding for library improvements, a single online community meeting was held by SPPL to gather feedback from community residents about the future of the Hamline Midway Library. This last-minute meeting was ostensibly conducted in the name of community engagement — with the two options of renovate (note that renovate and expand was not yet on offer) or demolition being presented to the public — but emails since requested under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that SPPL already had a clear preferred choice to tear down the historic library. Subsequent to this meeting, SPPL initially intended to propose either a renovation or a tear-down by the early April CIB deadline, but as opposition to their tear-down proposal gained steam, public records show that SPPL scrambled to change course. Most notably, in late March SPPL was receiving feedback via an online CIB survey that showed strong opposition to the tear-down proposal; the City’s Planning and Economic Development department was informing SPPL that “Demolition is going to be extremely unpopular in this particular neighborhood…I would expect STRONG opposition to demo, particularly given it is a publicly-owned building”; and the City’s Historic Preservation Commission Supervisor was telling SPPL that demolition is “in conflict with the Comprehensive Plan.” Meanwhile, SPPL’s Deputy Director states in an email that a building addition is a “not viable option” just weeks before SPPL concludes its CIB proposal by putting forth a renovate-and-expand option as a…viable option.

Public records reveal that in April 2021 SPPL was forced to change course at the very last minute and put forth this renovation and expansion option, despite their clear preference for demolishing the historic Hamline Midway Library — and, as noted above, SPPL’s position that an expansion is “not viable.” SPPL had in fact communicated in early April their decision to propose demolition in a confidential blog post shared with private citizens who supported this option, only to reverse course the following week when the tide against demolition became too strong. And even after the official CIB proposal included the renovation-and-expansion option, SPPL continued at least through May 2021 collaborating privately with citizens who both supported the demolition option and opposed the idea of a new co-located library at a new site.

In the past 9 months, SPPL had the opportunity to engage further with the community about the future of the Hamline Midway Library, and they have not done so. They have not enlisted the local district council, Hamline Midway Coalition, in any meaningful way to move this process forward or engage further with community members. They have not made any public efforts to work with historic preservation experts to bolster the case for a historic preservation and expansion project. They have not responded publicly to the records that reveal their clear intention from the outset to demolish the historic library building. And they have not invited to the table for the upcoming community engagement process anyone who has put forth the case for renovation or relocation of the Hamline Midway Library.

In fact, in early February 2022 SPPL denied a member of our group from serving as a Project Ambassador to represent community members in favor of renovation, and they have stated that these Project Ambassador meetings will not be open to the public. SPPL never sought applicants to serve as Project Ambassadors but rather hand-picked their preferred representatives to serve with the Project Ambassador group — including a member of the Hamline Midway Library Association, a group with whom SPPL has communicated privately and extensively with to support demolition efforts, as shown in Freedom of Information Act emails that have been published — and has placed more City employees in the group than neighborhood partners.

We at Renovate 1558 remain ready and willing to work with St. Paul Public Library to ensure that the Hamline Midway Library building is preserved for generations to come, while reimagining the library in a manner that is forward-thinking, accessible to all, environmentally friendly, and fiscally responsible.