Central Street Neighbors Association

In the past week there has been growing support to preserve and expand the branch library system in Evanston. The new budget which is schedued to be voted on in Feb. calls for the closure of the branch libraries. Even though it is less than 1% of the entire Evanston budget.
If you would like to sign the petition please go to www.branchlove.org Write your alderpeople, attend city council meetings, pass on the petition to friends and let the council know your thoughts. PLEASE GIVE US YOUR IDEAS 
Branch Libraries are not just buildings which house books they are and can become community meeting/study centers. They can anchor a neighborhood. They are for all ages.
Not only shoudl we preserve them we should make plans to expand them into the west side, and any plans for the Robert Crown Recreation Center,  should include a library/study center element.
We need to think out of the box to come up with ideas.
 the following comments were sent to us: 

 I strongly favor a west branch. I think any politically viable (and fair) solution should include physical space in the west, although that space might be different than North or South. 

1)  Currently South and North serve very different functions. South serves a very different population than North.  In this regard, I expect the South population is much closer to the West.  South Branch traffic includes patrons who come in to use our computers.  They don't have them in their homes and can't afford Internet service even if they do have them.  Kids and teens come in to play computer games and check Facebook, etc; adults use them to check email and apply for jobs.  This is different than North; the North computers are rarely used.

2)   Because of the computer difference, branches today provide a different service than they did 10 years ago.  A west branch that has a computing center would be frequented.  There is a movement among libraries to have "cybraries" or storefront libraries that are primarily computing centers, with magazine, newspaper  and "most wanted" and "hot pick" collections, along with space for storytimes.  Patrons also put books on hold and have them delivered to the branch for pick up.