City Council passed Resolution 1521 on Nov. 2, 2021, approving RATIO Design’s conceptual design for the planned expansion and renovation of the Carnegie Library building. The library, part of the Pikes Peak Library District, is temporarily housed in the Manitou Art Center.
Councilor Judith Chandler had requested the previously unscheduled work session held Tuesday, March 22, to re-open the discussion of the resolution because a Preserve and Renew Our Carnegie Library Task Force member told her that the design was final, whereas she thought there would be more public input.
She added that subsequent conversations with some members of the community and City Council indicated a variety of views on the meaning of Resolution 1521.
Later in the discussion, Chandler pointed out that Manitou is a diverse community and said that diversity needs agreement on definitions. She added that she had received an email pointing out that Manitou does have a library in the MAC and that there is “no rush.”
Councilor Julie Wolfe said that she agreed with Chandler and that she felt she had been “deliberately misled,” having later been told by an architect that “conceptual” was a “special word,” which in engineering terms meant final. Both Wolfe and Chandler called for clear definitions of terminology in the future.
“No one’s going to die if we put it on hold,” Wolfe said.
She wanted more designs to choose from and said that they existed.
Councilor Nancy Fortuin questioned why it had taken five months for these new concerns to be raised. She pointed out that the process called for the design to go before the Historic Planning Commission, which by law will entail more opportunities for public process. She urged moving forward, “not backward” and leaving the task force in the lead in the public-engagement process.
Councilor Natalie Johnson agreed that definitions needed more clarity. She praised the evening’s conversation and said that she was “excited to see how things move forward.” She pointed out that the community had brought the process to its present point “without this being done by council” and praised the community for its work.
Mayor John Graham said that he felt the provisions of the resolution were “pretty clear” and that as an engineer, he was accustomed to things being approved incrementally. He added that there was no need to re-visit the resolution, that a solution was close at hand and that there was danger in “procrastinating.” Lots of “wiggle room” remained, the mayor said.
He praised the task force for its public engagement. He said that the process so far had been a “model for public engagement.” He also, as Fortuin had, pointed out that there are upcoming meetings at the Planning Commission, as well as the HPC, that require opportunities for more public input.
Graham informally polled councilors and said that it was council’s sentiment to move forward.
Council does not take formal action during work sessions and Resolution 1521 has not been added to a future agenda. It appears that there is not sufficient support for re-visiting it in the future.
The second item on the night’s agenda was the Pikes Peak Library District Collection Development Policy, which determines what is in the library for the public. Comments from a recent appointee to the PPLD board had raised concerns about censorship. The specter of censorship was raised due to favorable comments concerning a “portal” for parents to “white list or red list” library materials.
Outgoing PPLD Chief Librarian and CEO John Spears told council that it is PPLD policy and a tenet of librarianship that “the only appropriate filter is a parent.” Spears then described a subsequent PPLD board meeting at which existing policies regarding all three First Amendment-related items of PPLD policy were passed “without a hitch.”
There is no indication that any board member favors censorship, Spears said. He later added that he was pleased that the issue had been raised in order to give reassurances about the values of the board.
“It’s not a fight we’re having right now,” Spears said of the censorship issue. Both he and Chandler agreed that intellectual freedom is threatened not just locally, but nationally. Both said that they feared for the community.
Spears told council that he was disheartened that a councilor had even raised the possibility of Manitou Springs leaving the PPLD, as Chandler had done in a previous meeting when the censorship issue was raised.
Spears pointed out that two years ago the PPLD made a promise to remain in Manitou and had spent $500,000 toward doing so.
“That’s a promise we will stand by,” Spears said. He also pointed out that PPLD had no choice but to leave the Carnegie building, since it doesn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, when it did so and moved into the MAC.