Lawsuit Over Hartford Library Branches Is Withdrawn

Kids need access to books, especially in a dumpy little city like Hartford.

"Mayor Eddie A. Perez and Council President Calixto Torres threatened last week to take the library over entirely."

Can they do that? Just take over when they don't like the way things are run? What's next, the courant? HPD? McDonald's if they don't like the service?

No, they can't take over the Library, it's done nothing wrong, and it's a private entity, it's got a board that Louise Blalocks answers to.....if anything, they need to bring the suit to Louise Blalock

Wally wrote:

Kids need access to books, especially in a dumpy little city like Hartford.

I rather like this dumpy little city...how about cutting the taxes so more people can be self sufficient, like their parents. By the way, I am here but where are they?

I do not think that using the endowment is the solution. There is an epidemic in our culture to not think of the future, we need to save for the future. Erosion of the endowment would endanger the endowments' stability. The timing couldn't be worse, the stock market is unstable.

I respect Mayor Perez's successes - and appreciate his frustration when he and everyone can see that an institution or commission have stalled. But that is not the situation at the HPL. They have made a fiscally sound decision, there are no signs of a stalemate at the administrative level. What is difficult to accept or determine is the impact to those neighborhoods. The ability for adults to transport themselves to the main library is easy, but to bring children or those with mobility issues is another story. It does create a barrier to access which residents of other neighborhoods in Hartford do not have to overcome. Second guessing why the Library Board selected those 2 locations is a waste of time. Let's move forward to resolve the access issue and not waste precious energy by making this into a political controversy.