Akron's Libraries: Evolving into Community Hubs

Foreign it's the akron podcast for January 22, 2025.

Hey, it's minus six outside as I record this.

And I just wanted this is kind of one of those, like, duh kind of things.

But sometimes we do things that are stupid, like, oh, you know, I need to take the trash out.

So I'll just, you know, I'm not going to put on a coat or gloves or a hat or anything like that, and that ends up biting us in the butt.

And so there was an article in the Beacon Journal, and they were talking about the symptoms of frostbite.

And that includes redness, numbness, tingling and paleness in the fingers.

And basically they said when numbness and weakness persistent or when your skin starts having what they call cold, bleak discoloration, then it's time to go to the emergency room.

So I know that maybe you're a big tough guy or maybe you think, ah, it's only going to be, you know, 30 seconds.

When it's this cold outside, you can really cause some damage.

So put your hats on, put your, especially your gloves, your coat.

Don't mess, you know, just keep it.

Sounds silly because we live in Akron and we know it's January, we know it gets cold, but, you know, Mother Nature's undefeated.

Got some sad news here.

If you haven't heard and if you're over the age of probably 30.

I know they were running the show on Saturday, but Big Chuck, Chuck Schadowski of the.

Well, if you're old, Big Chuck and Houlihan and later Big Chuck and Little John died this week at the age of 90.

There's a video on Fox 8's side.

I'll put a link to that.

And of course, you have to skip the ad, but that's one of those things where he was just silly.

And if you are familiar with that show, back in the days when there was just three, five and eight, I remember being a young boy and my cousins would come over for a sleepover and we were probably all of seven or eight.

And first of all, we had to stay up that late, which at the time was something we didn't do.

But if you didn't hear, Big Chuck Schadowski, unfortunately, is no longer with us.

No cause of death, but at the age of 90, he had a good long life.

Next up, our favorite AI reporters.

There's something that's going to be on the ballot in November that's, you know, important and we need to think about it.

So here are Kyle and Sheila.

Have you ever, like, walked into A library and felt like, well, this place is stuck in the past.

Totally.

Well, that's what's going on right here in Akron, Ohio, with our very own library system.

Yeah.

So we're doing a deep dive today into, like, why they're trying to get this huge renovation project going.

It's a big one.

And why voters should, you know, approve it or not.

Huge decision.

Yeah.

We've got some excerpts from the Acron Beacon Journal article, and it's all about this.

So get ready to, like, explore a little bit of local history and what they're planning to do and what it means for all of us who, you know, love the library or maybe don't love the library so much right now, but could love it in the future.

Could love it.

Yeah.

So what's really cool about this is that most of the Akron Summit County Public Library branches are about the same age.

Oh, really?

They had this big renovation back in 1997 because of a bond issue that expired in 2018.

2020.

The article says that the average age of a branch is 24 years old.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

So is that really that old for a building?

I mean, my house is older than that, and I don't need, like, $160 million to renovate it.

Well, think about how much technology has changed in the last two decades.

I mean, it's unbelievable.

Libraries aren't just about bookshelves anymore.

Right.

You think back to dial up Internet.

Oh, my gosh.

Those renovations in 97 probably didn't account for WI fi and laptops.

Yeah.

Tablets and people working remotely and all of that.

That's true.

I didn't even think about that.

It's a different world.

Yeah.

So $160 million.

That's a lot of money.

That's a big chunk of change.

Yeah.

Can you explain, like, what a bond issue is?

Yeah.

For people who aren't financial wizards.

So think about it like this.

Okay.

If you spread the cost of a new car over 20 years.

Okay.

That's kind of what's happening here.

Gotcha.

So it's a loan that the library system takes out, and if voters approve it, we all kind of slowly pay it back over that time.

Okay.

And this money is just for capital improvements.

So it's like fixing roofs.

Okay.

Resurfacing parking lots, updating interiors.

You know, make it a little bit more 21st century.

I see, I see.

Yeah.

That makes it feel a little less overwhelming when you put it like that.

But it's still a lot to ask taxpayers, especially, like, you know, these Days with inflation and everything.

Yeah, it's definitely a big decision for people, but we've got to remember that this is an investment in a community resource.

That's true.

Libraries are changing.

They're kind of becoming more community hubs.

Community hubs.

So it's like more than just the books and the, you know, the creaky computer terminals.

Yeah, exactly.

Are we talking like, co working spaces?

Event venues?

I think so.

Think about, like, maker spaces with 3D printers.

Oh, wow.

Recording studios.

That's awesome.

Community gardens, Classes on everything from coding to cooking.

So they really are trying to be a central gathering point for everybody?

I think so, yeah.

Yeah.

But is there a risk of them, like, spreading themselves too thin, you know?

Yeah.

Trying to be everything to everyone and then not doing anything?

Well, that's a good point.

But I think that a well designed library can balance those traditional services with the newer things.

Think about it.

You might go to borrow a cookbook, and then you end up at a cooking demonstration.

Right.

And then you check out a documentary about food sustainability.

It's all connected.

I see.

I see.

Yeah.

It's really interesting how they're tying it all together.

Okay.

So they're trying to create a space that actually reflects how people want to use the library today.

I think so.

Which brings us to that survey.

Yeah.

What were some of the biggest complaints that people had?

What were they missing?

People want more quiet study spaces, areas for group projects, better technology access, and creative spaces for things like art and music.

Stuff that's hard to do in a tiny apartment or a noisy coffee shop.

Yeah, totally.

I'm a total coffee shop worker myself, but I could definitely see how a dedicated quiet space in the library would be amazing.

Yeah.

Just to focus.

Game changer.

Yeah.

So this all sounds great, but I'm guessing this renovation and this bond issue doesn't apply to everyone in the area.

Right, Right.

This only applies to the Akron Summit County Public Library District.

Okay.

So some communities, like Hudson and Barberton, they have their own independent libraries.

So they have their own funding structures, and they won't be impacted by this.

So it's important to know where you fit in.

Yeah, for sure.

Okay, so big picture, like, what is the library administration hoping to achieve with all this?

Two main goals.

First, they want to protect the community's investment in the library system.

Okay.

Just like we maintain roads and bridges, these buildings need attention.

Right.

Makes sense.

And second, they want to make sure that our libraries stay relevant in the 21st century.

Yeah.

Because no one wants to see their local library become Like a dusty relic.

Exactly.

Libraries are essential to a thriving community.

Absolutely.

They provide access to information, foster learning, connect people from all walks of life.

Yeah, that's a good point.

Well said.

So, to recap, the Akron Summit County Public Library System is facing aging infrastructure.

Yep.

They're proposing a bond issue to fund renovations based on what people actually want.

That's the key.

And there's a vote coming up on January 27th.

Mark your calendars.

So whether or not you're eligible to vote on this, it does raise a question.

What's that?

What would your ideal library space look like, and how would it serve the community?

That's a great question.

Yeah.

This bond issue could make that vision a reality.

Yeah.

So if you want to learn more or get involved, even if you can't vote, head over to the Akron Summit County Public Library website.

It's a good resource.

Yeah.

They have tons of information.

And who knows, you might even be inspired to, like, pay your local library a visit or revisit.

That's the hope.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Awesome.

And while this isn't technically Ohio News or Acro News, it is Ohio News.

Amazon has paid more than $100 million to purchase two parcels of land in Fayette county next to Honda and LG's battery plant and Amazon Data Services.

So here's the thing.

It's not like they're building a mall when you hear about AWS and AWS stats.

Yeah.

The fun part of this is, so they're going to have, you know, in this case, 243 acres of land and this.

This acreage.

And then they also purchased, you know, 346 acres for another area.

And the fun part is going to be is all these computers.

That's all it is.

These big, giant data centers are going to chew up a huge amount of electricity.

And so what's interesting, they say the surgeon data centers means Ohio is expected to eat up so much electricity that demand for power in the region will be similar to all of Manhattan by 2030, according to American Electric Power.

So, yay, jobs, I guess, in Lafayette County.

But I was just like, well, all this ChatGPT and AI tools and things like that.

Yeah, they require a lot of power and a big, beefy computer to do that stuff.

It's going to be interesting to see how we're going to power all this stuff.

Just something to think about.

And last bit of housekeeping here.

It used to be if you went to akronpodcast.com events, there was an event calendar.

And to make a long story short, the company I was using to create that event calendar just said, yeah, nevermind.

Yeah, they went out of business.

And the way I'm building the show and such, I'm still looking for a tool.

And I know I could use, like, a Google Calendar or something like that, but it's something that I'm looking into.

So I just say this now that if you go to the events page@akronpodcast.com events and there isn't much there, that's what's going on.

I'll have buttons there if you want to check the schedules, and I might do that.

For now, just have links to the Goodyear Theater and, you know, the Civic and things like that.

So if you want to check what's going on.

But if you go there and you're like, hey, where's the list of events?

Yeah, that's why.

And that's what you get.

And what's weird is I would not be upset if it was free, because free is a bad business model.

But I was paying them 8 bucks a month because the Akron podcast makes no money.

Nobody's gone out and clicked on the PayPal button.

And so I need something on a really tight budget, and I'll keep looking, but just want to let you know in case you head out to the events page and like, hey, Dave, I think the site is broken.

No, no, I know it's broken.

We're working on some stuff.