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Denver has plans to spend $94 million for a new library. The city certainly needs a new central library -- thousands of books languish in the cellar of the current building. But it is not fair that only Denver residents should pay for the expansion, since the library is used by many non-residents.
I'm one of them. When a writing project needs in-depth research, I traverse 150 miles of mountains to 13th and Broadway. Just about anything else I need, I can find here or order -- but you can't indulge in browsing, nor benefit from serendipitous discoveries, unless you're right there in the stacks.
Though I pay no Denver taxes to support the library, I have a card, acquired through a minor chicane. Seven years ago, when B.J. Plasket and I were working on a book about cocaine, we had to spend some research time in a city where there were big libraries and experts we could interview.
So we rented a room for a month on East Colfax (convenient location, good bus service, and an interesting change from laid-back mountain towns). Armed with the rent receipt, I changed the address on my driver's license. With that, I was a Denver resident for long enough to get a library card, which I've used sporadically ever since.
I'm not the only freeloader. A Fraser real-estate developer visits Denver mostly for the library, and the same is true of environmental activists in Durango and artisans in Saguache. The Denver Public Library is used daily by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people who pay not a nickel toward its support.
There are several solutions. One is for the state to contribute, which the state did until suburban and rural legislators halted the appropriations.
The library responded with a $200 annual fee for
non-residents, and quickly became known as the Denver
Not-So-Public Library.
The fee has been rescinded, but
the inequity remains. As a public-spirited Denver Public
Library freeloader, I present these potential
solutions:
1. Offer honest non-resident cards for a reasonable fee, like $25 instead of $200.
2. Persuade the state legislature that it is to the benefit of the entire state to have a great library in its major city.
3. If 1 and 2 won't work, conduct a survey of out-of-town patrons. We spend money in Denver for parking, meals, rooms, accumulated shopping needs, etc. Use those figures to demonstrate that for every dollar spent on the library, Denver somehow receives at least $10 in sales tax, parking fines and other revenues.
Then trumpet those findings as evidence that the Denver Public Library is a leading force for economic recovery of the beleaguered metropolis. This may sound preposterous, but it worked for the grand-prix people and it will probably work for a baseball stadium, so why not for something important?
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