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Tag Archives: Austin Public Library

Austin's new Central Library opens Saturday. Will people use it?

Taylor Barnett, 24, hasn’t had a public library card since the 1990s, when she was a kid growing up in Victoria, Texas. She would frequent the local library with her grandparents, especially after they bought a computer with little idea…

Arts panel faces procedural misstep

On Monday, the Art in Public Places panel felt caught in the middle of a procedural misstep taken by the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation, which wanted donated art installed at the new Central Library. John Gillum, the library facilities…

Austin public libraries to expand videoconferencing

The Austin Public Library Friends Foundation received a $120,000 grant from Google.org last Friday for Austin Public Library to expand videoconferencing to the rest of its branches. The foundation applied for the grant that will fund needed technology, and it…

Construction of new Central Library overdue, again

City Council members learned last week that the completion of the new downtown public library has been hit with delays, again. “I do think that it is getting very close, but I don’t have a specific date that I can…

New library cost could climb to $126 million with Council's OK

City Council will consider what is hoped to be the final spending increase for the long-in-the-works Austin Central Library on Thursday, with the total price tag for the project set to fall somewhere just under $126.6 million. The agenda item…

Austin libraries not giving up on CDs

Even in the Live Music Capital of the World, there are undoubtedly plenty of people who haven’t bought a physical music album in years. All Austinites, however, continue to buy compact discs through their taxes. On Thursday, City Council approved…

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'Library for the future' soon will be a reality

A decade ago, Austin voters approved a $90 million bond to build a new central library that would better fit the growing city’s needs. Another $30 million later, the “library for the future” is nearly complete. The 200,000-square-foot facility –…

County boots city's request for parking discount

Travis County Commissioners on Tuesday shot down a request from the city of Austin for a slightly more generous pricing agreement on scores of downtown parking spaces. The rare failure to reach interlocal accord underscored that the increasing popularity of…

OSHA fines Central Library contractors $88K for excavation hazards

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has cited construction contractors working on the new Central Library with fines totaling $88,000. According to the citations (here and here), on March 4, four employees were installing rebar in the rain in a…

Library budget talks reveal Council divide

Last week, City Council dug into the Library Department’s budget, and it became clear that there are some deep ideological divides on the dais. As part of their budget work session, Council members grilled Austin Public Library Director Brenda Branch…

Audit calls Public Library’s equity into question

Despite not having a formal definition of “equity” available to the public, the Austin Public Library insists that it uses equity as a guiding principle in all decisions. The city’s public library system challenged a report presented last week at…

Library staff holds the line on 2015 funds

Despite the imminence of a glowing new Central Library on the horizon, the library department kept it humble Wednesday afternoon. As part of the city’s budget process, City Council heard from Brenda Branch, director of the Austin Public Library department.…

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