By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – There’s no lack of library cards on the west side of Bloomington. In fact, northwest Bloomington has the highest density of library card holders.
That’s left the Bloomington Public Library Board wondering what its next move is regarding the lack of Bookmobile stops in the area.
The west side of Bloomington is made up of more lower-income, minority residents, so when maps of Bookmobile stops came out in April, many people questioned why that area was largely ignored.
Board President Carol Koos said census data presented at Tuesday’s board meeting proves the theory that there aren’t enough card holders in that area wrong.
“If you have high card holder-ship, why aren’t people using the Bookmobile?” Koos asked during the library board’s discussion. “Something isn’t evident. The answer isn’t evident.”
Koos said the matter will be investigated further and discussed at future board meetings.
In other action, the library board decided to suspend action on the approval of a contract with Farnsworth Group to help develop an expansion of the library until they can have a discussion with the developer on some of the expenses lined out in the company’s proposed contract.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].
