Jane Byrne was mayor when the city first promised the residents of West Garfield Park a renovated library.

Radford-Hill and other neighborhood activists are fighting. They want to see a renovated library linked with nearby schools to form a “cultural corridor to the community.” To meet this end, they’ve enlisted Bethel New Life, a not-for-profit social service and community development group of which Radford-Hill is an officer, as well as several business leaders. They’ve formed Friends of the Legler Library, and they hope to raise at least $25,000 to establish a temporary library. So far, however, they’ve had little luck.

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“In many ways what’s happened to Legler parallels the overall disinvestment of this neighborhood,” says Radford-Hill. “From 1979, when Bethel started, we’ve lost an average of 20,000 units of housing a year. A lot of it is from lack of investment. This is a poor community, and many buildings are just falling apart.”

“The riots were a symptom–not a cause,” says Robbie Jacquette, a community organizer for Bethel. “I can remember when Madison was a bustling business strip. We had a Goldblatt’s on the corner. That was before the malls, and people still walked to stores to do their shopping. There’s still a lot of need for walk-in business around here. This is a poor neighborhood. People can’t travel far to do their shopping.”

In 1975, Legler was downgraded to the status of a neighborhood branch. That meant a cut in its operating budget. Fewer books were bought. Back copies of magazines and newspapers were no longer stored. Staff was transferred. The mezzanine and second floor were closed off. A computer room was closed because there was no staff to operate it (the computers remain, though they are not used).

The situation changed in 1987, when Library Commissioner John Duff convinced the city to sell bonds to undergo a multimillion-dollar neighborhood branch renovation program. Renovation of Legler was targeted for 1990, and then came the shocker: the library would be closed throughout.

In the library board’s defense, there are other communities making the same demands as the residents of West Garfield Park.