- The SD Central Library encourages residents to attend the panel discussion
- $250M+ in repairs and upgrades needed, per recent reports
Voice & Viewpoint Newswire
San Diego leaders are inviting the public to discuss what needs to be done to stop the deterioration of local parks and libraries as recent reports show the City faces $250 million in needed repairs to these neighborhood facilities.
Residents are invited to join at the downtown Central Library on Wednesday, March 2. The event comes as community leaders prepare to collect signatures this spring for a 2024 ballot measure that will improve local parks and libraries. The Libraries and Parks For All community initiative will invest in San Diego’s deteriorating public facilities by fixing long-standing issues and historical inequities that have resulted in some communities having access to fewer educational and recreational opportunities.
“Libraries with enough computers to help struggling students, parks with bathrooms that actually work – these aren’t minor things, they are everything when a community doesn’t have them,” said Michel Anderson, Chair of the San Diego Parks Foundation. “We want all our neighborhoods to have world-class parks and libraries, and that includes doing the basics right.”
Libraries are suffering from a construction backlog of more than $50 million, and parks need a minimum investment of $200 million according to analyses conducted by the City of San Diego.
San Diego invests less per person in its library department than other California cities, with an annual library budget that is less than 70 percent of the state average. And while America’s Finest City has the second-largest urban parks system in the United States, parks funding from the City’s operating fund dropped by nearly 33 percent between 2005 and 2019.
The Wednesday event will begin with a 5 p.m. reception on the 9th floor of the Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common, 330 Park Blvd. in downtown San Diego, followed by a 6 p.m. panel discussion. The public is invited to participate in-person or online. Pandemic protocols will be in effect. You can RSVP at sdplf.org/state-of-libraries-parks.
