Central Library Downtown to Close/Pay your overdue fines

Library

A multi-million dollar makeover is coming to a downtown institution and it’ll be one for the books -- literally



KHOU-TV

Next week two floors will close and on April 3 the doors close completely.

The renovation will temporarily shut down the downtown library.

People come to the library for a lot of reasons.

Next week two floors will close and on April 3 the doors close completely.

Up to two years and almost $15 million later the library wants to bring new definition to a word.

“You’ll see a place that’s much more colorful, newer materials,” said John Middleton, division manager.

Escalators gone. And from computers to carpets this will be 21 st century.

“This side will be almost all AV, CDs DVDs and listening stations,” Middleton said. “There’ll be seating areas. The other side of this same floor will be all popular materials, marketing displays new seating areas and 40 new computer stations and a cafe.”

It will become much more like a bookstore. Another change is that the kids space will be moved from the basement and into a much bigger brighter space.

The view will look right over Sam Houston Park.

On the plaza a brick wall will become an art wall of light and bricks that have plagued the building with leaks will be replaced with concrete.

And that word they want to redefine: “Three letters w-o-w. Wow. We want the wow factor here,” said Dr. Rhea Brown Larson, director of libraries. “We want people to come in and it’s just extraordinarily different from what you see today.”

It’s the largest renovation in the history books of the Houston Library.



another link

Central Library to get $14.9M update
The City of Houston plans to spend $14.9 million to renovate the Central Library located in downtown Houston next to Houston City Hall.

The project, the largest in the history of the library system, will include updates to the library's IT infrastructure, a rebuild of the plaza, expansion of the children's and teen's services, and the addition of public space.

To make way for the changes, the library will close to the public on April 3 and won't reopen until the end of 2007. Access to the Central Library's collection and reference services will continue through neighborhood libraries and HPL Express Downtown. The library system has 36 branch libraries throughout the city. City officials are encouraging library customers to use neighborhood libraries during the renovation process.



Finally...
This is old, but still. I like to watch the video of it. One of my hunnies is in the video.

NBC Nightly News

Overdue library books impact credit scores
‘Small’ factors could prevent a bank from lending you money

By Carl Quintanilla
Anchor
CNBC
Updated: 7:36 p.m. ET Jan. 9, 2006


NEW YORK - Kevin Howard is the first to admit: He forgot to return a book to the Houston public library in 2004. That is, until he saw his credit record a year later.

"I literally had a heart attack," he says.

The city had turned his unpaid fine — about $30 — over to a collection agency, complicating his efforts to buy a home.

In fact, dozens of other cities — from San Diego to Baltimore — are now chasing an estimated $40 billion in unpaid fees, parking tickets, even utility bills.

Michael Ginsberg is head of a debt collection consulting firm and says cities where budgets are falling short have little choice.

"They can raise taxes, they can cut spending, or they can chase past-due accounts," says Ginsberg.

The trend is reaching even categories like high-speed toll lanes. But at what point is the damage to the debtor's reputation worse than the offense?

Maryanne Bowler is circulation chief at the Glenview, Ill., library, which last year collected $59,000 in fines.

"I suppose if I turned it around and it happened to me, I would feel, yes, it is excessive," says Bowler. "But I also feel the library doesn't have any other alternatives in order to maintain their collection."


What should you do if the bill collector starts calling?

"No. 1, don't ignore it," says Ginsberg. "It's real, OK? No matter how minimal it might be."

No. 2: Don't be fooled. Bill collectors don't go away, even if the phone calls stop. And when you do pay the debt, try to get a letter that agrees to remove the mark from your record.

Kevin Howard has tried to do just that. But the city of Houston hasn't budged, which means he'll have to wait seven years until it's finally erased — in 2012.

"This just caught me off guard," he says. "The punishment does not fit the crime."


© 2006 MSNBC.com

 

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