Letter: Library, museum safe places to visit

Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

The $100,000 offsets the museum's prorated share of the building's utility, insurance and maintenance expenses. Regardless of how much we value its cultural mission, tax dollars intended for the provision of library services should not be used to operate a nonprofit museum.

The location of the facility has its detractors. Dan Romano, facilities manager for the Neon Museum, is quoted as suggesting "the neighborhood has a bad reputation" and that the library and children's museum "get the brunt of homeless people." Lied Museum board President-elect Peter Poggione concurs that the area's "rough image" is one reason the museum wants to move.

In spite of their perceptions about the neighborhood's shortcomings, the library had more than 500,000 visitors last year and checked out more than 525,000 items, up 74 percent in five years. Clearly, more people than "the homeless" use the library.

The library provides a wonderful array of children's activities, including family literacy tutoring, and contains the district's largest Spanish language collection. The library also provides access to print, computers and other resources to the less fortunate in our community.

Visitors to the children's museum, by the way, are not permitted to enter museum spaces without a ticket.

If the neighborhood has a "rough image," perhaps it is simply that it is in one of the poorer areas of town. The suggested location for the museum would be adjacent to restaurants, retailers and a "boutique hotel."

I certainly understand the circumstances that might contribute to the museum's consideration of an alternative location in order to provide additional space for museum programming and activities. It is wrong to suggest, however, that the library and the museum are not safe places to visit.

Daniel L. Walters Editor's note: The writer is executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.