February 9, 2022 — Jonathan Oppenheimer

Prior to the first meeting of the Project Ambassadors earlier this week, a member of the Project Ambassadors committee recommended to St. Paul Public Library that they invite me to serve as a Project Ambassador, given the work I’ve put in over the past year to ensure that there is a fair, transparent community process regarding the future of the library — and given the extensive community work I’ve done in the neighborhood over the past decade. SPPL’s Marika Staloch did not decline this request outright, but responded, “The Library Design Project Ambassadors group is made of selected as individuals who are accountable to a group of people; governed by a board, neighborhood, or community organization, or working for an elected official who represents constituents that will be impacted.” Ms. Staloch then went on to inform me of other ways I could be involved, in effect saying that I would not be invited to serve on this committee.

I responded with an email stating the following: “I'm glad that you mentioned being a representative of a group representing constituents who will be affected by this process, because I'm actually at the forefront of 3 of them. In no particular order, I am a spokesperson for Renovate 1558, a group of community members that has organized in support of the preservation of Hamline Midway Library; I am the founder of the Midway Public Art Working Group, which has worked under the umbrella of the Hamline Midway Coalition for several years, and has spent years providing public art opportunities to a diverse range of local artists, who have in turn greatly enriched our neighborhood; and I was a co-founder of the Friends of Hamline Park, which has organized events free to all over the years in partnership with Hamline Midway Library. I think that each of those positions meet the criteria you lay out, as I'm accountable to groups of people with a direct stake in the future of the library. I hope given this information that you will consider inviting me to participate.”

Ms. Staloch responded by again not formally denying me a position on the committee, but wrote the following: “The Library Ambassadors cover all three library projects: Hamline, Hayden Heights, and Riverview. The Midway is already well-represented with the individuals we have selected. I encourage you to work with the Midway representatives, such as Sarah at District 11, to bring forward your thoughts and perspectives.”

I responded by asking who the representatives on the committee are and whether Project Ambassador meetings would be public. Rather than answering these straight-forward questions, Ms. Staloch sent the following email: “I will be posting minutes and the roster on our website, Transforming Libraries | Saint Paul Public Library (sppl.org).”

I then responded by asking why SPPL was not willing to directly answer my straight-forward questions about who was participating as Project Ambassadors and whether the meetings were open to the public. The response I received was: “I am working to ensure we share efficient, consistent and accurate information with all Saint Paul patrons, therefore, am relying on the website. As stated earlier, the Library Design Project Ambassadors group is made of selected individuals; it is not open to the public.”

SPPL has stated that they wish “to work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered,” and “to partner with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution” — and yet SPPL has hand-picked community members of its choosing, denied a seat at the table for people who have challenged their skewed narrative of this process, and consistently been evasive when asked for transparency. And now we’re being told that the Project Ambassadors group made up of “selected individuals…is not open to the public.” Mind you, as of this writing, despite the group having met already, the public does not know who is actually serving as part of the group. After a secretive CIB process that put demolition on the table despite strong community opposition in the first place, I was hopeful that after 9 months of reflection SPPL would have changed their tune, but that is clearly not the case. I am hopeful that the community engagement process will be fruitful — especially given that we know Hamline Midway Coalition has a seat at the table — but the signs so far are not encouraging.