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State Rescues Closed Library Branches

ANDY HART

September 11, 2008

The Blue Hills and Mark Twain Branches of the Hartford Public Library are scheduled to finally re-open next week thanks to a one-time allocation of $200,000 from the State of Connecticut and an additional $50,000 approved by Hartford City Council earlier this week.

The $200,000 allocation was announced Wednesday afternoon on the steps of the Main Library by State Senator Eric Coleman and State Representative Ken Green, who were instrumental in obtaining $100,000 each from the contingency funds of their respective branches of the legislature.

Coleman, however, cautioned that the state bail-out was a temporary solution and all concerned parties must now work together to find a way to keep all Hartford library branches open on a permanent basis. “We should never again be in a position where closing libraries is an option,” said Coleman.

Both Coleman and Green and Speaker of the House James Amann had high praise for the numerous community groups that worked throughout the summer to re-open the libraries.