What's Best for Benning…

Rally at the old Benning Library Site
Held June 28, 2008
By Chris Otten, District Dynamos

Saturday was a beautiful afternoon for a rally held by the local Benning Library Dynamo and sponsored by the District Library Dynamos, DC Library Renaissance Project, and the Ward 7 Development Advisory Committee.

More than fifty people came and went between noon and 2pm in front of the plot of land that was once the Benning Branch Library. The library that stood for decades at 3935 Benning Road NE was torn down in October 2007.



Plans for a new Benning Library to replace it are not very forward looking, to say the least. So much is missing that would be expected of a 21st Century building. For instance, there are no active green technologies like solar panels or wind turbines to offset rising energy costs. The green elements proposed – like a grass roof – are passive. Efforts towards improving literacy rates and bridging the digital are passive, too, since there will be no classrooms, no computer training, and no adult literacy programming. Also, the building won’t accommodate expansion at a later date – whereas the demolished building was structurally engineered to have additional floors added.

Benning Dynamo participants were on hand to talk with Ward 7 residents who came to listen to the cool music, take home a loaf of fresh bread, and most importantly select free books for their personal libraries. More than 200 books were given away as moms, dads, seniors, and kids, all left with a variety of volumes donated by the Brian Mackenzie Infoshop, the Cleveland Park Library Friends, and Ralph Nader's Center for Responsive Law.

There were also arts and crafts to keep the kids busy while mom and dad browsed -- some made necklaces and some made signs for the rally.



LET BENNING DECIDE was the message for the day... cars honked in agreement and lots of people signed up to be kept apprised of Benning Library issues.

Although the sky clouded up with an impending storm just as the rally was ending, one thing remained clear: Benning residents want some leadership to look at why Ward 7 taxpayers are spending more than 15 million dollars on a library that isn’t designed to accommodate the growth already planned for the area, and doesn’t actively tackle their neighborhood’s problems.

Benning residents deserve better -- Benning should decide.