Recommendation to approve naming the North Branch Library, the "Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library," in honor of her contributions to youth, education, literacy, and the United States.
Thank you. Next item, please. Communication from Councilman Andrew's chair. Housing a neighborhood committee recommendation to approve naming the North Branch Library, the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. Okay, there's a motion and a second. Hold on one. We thought we worked it out. Okay. So, Councilman Richardson. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Councilman Austin, Councilman Andrews, for a. Talking with us about this this. For bringing this recommendation forward, I want to start off just with a brief staff report. Do we have a report on the process that we asked for in terms of public outreach? Yes. Mayor Garcia and members of the City Council providing the report today will be director of the Library Services, Glenda McWilliams. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and three members of City Council. During the January 19th meeting, City Council referred a proposal to the Housing and Neighborhood Committee to consider renaming the new North Library the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. Library Services and Parks Rec. Maureen were also directed to conduct additional outreach to engage youth and library patrons. Since that time, four community meetings were held to obtain community input. The ninth District community meeting was held on Thursday, January 21, with 150 participants, and they were asked that the name of the new North Library should inspire youth and if Mrs. Obama's initiatives aligned with the interests of the Ninth District. And during the discussion, 72% supported renaming the library the Michelle Obama Obama Neighborhood Library. Library Services held a focus group meeting on Saturday, January 23, with 11 library patrons at the current North Branch Library. The same questions were asked of the participants. Six of them voted to keep the name the North Branch Library. Other names provided for consideration were Indira Hale, Tucker Branch Library, Martin Luther King Jr Branch Library and the Coretta Scott King Branch Library. City Council's Housing and Neighborhood Committee met on Tuesday, January 26 to discuss the referral. There were seven members of the audience who spoke during public comment. Six people voiced their support to rename the new library in honor of Mrs. Obama. The Housing and Neighborhoods Committee voted unanimously in favor as well. 20 youth attended a meeting held by Parks Rec and Marine on Wednesday, January 27, at Houghton Park. The same questions were asked. 15 of the 20 youth voted for the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. Other names put forward included doorstops, the L Word Branch Library and Brighter Futures. This concludes my report, and I'm available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Thank you. So I want to I want to thank Chair Andrews and the rest of the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee for bringing back this recommendation of approval for the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. This has been a very open, inclusive process. We've conducted more outreach around this proposal than any naming process that we've heard of in recent city history. Through these past two months, we've held forums, focus groups. We've engaged in online discussions around the topic. And at this moment, I'm most proud of the opportunity to witness our community of different ages and backgrounds coming together to build consensus around the idea and to inspire and engage the next generation. There are many individuals and groups that I want to thank tonight for actively participating and being supportive of this process. So first, I want to extend a huge thank you to the students of the rap program at Jordan High School. They'll make are brothers in the ZAE Sisters for the original idea of the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library and for their strong participation and advocacy over the last couple of months. This has been an exercise in democracy and the civic process that won't be soon forgotten. So thank you to to the rap students and their program coordinator coordinator, Candace Meehan. So next, I want to thank the students from Hamilton Middle School and the Andy Street Community Association for the the over 80 letters that I've received in support for this library, naming and coming the council and participate in the community meetings. You're all an inspiration to other youth around the around our city. I want to thank the North Long Beach community leaders like former ninth District Council member Steve Neal, school board member Megan Kerr for lending your voice and standing who supported this proposal from the beginning. Thank you to the neighborhood association presidents for committing their support and being engaged through this process from the very beginning. That includes Laverne Duncan, Deborah Shelton, Dan Press, Berg, Eileen OII and Jeff Roe, Hilda Gaytan, Otis Hogan, Julia Brown, James McWhorter and Jimmy Murray making up ten neighborhood association presidents representing ten different neighborhoods in North Long Beach . Thank you also to the elected officials who expressed support, including the letter we just received from Congresswoman Janice Hahn today. Congressmember Alan Lowenthal State Senator Ricardo Lara. State Senator Isidore Hull Speaker elect Anthony Rendon. Anthony Assembly Assembly Member Mike Gibson Assembly Member Patrick O'Donnell. I want to thank staff, particularly departments of Parks and Recreation, Marine and the Library Services Department and their staff, for helping to helping with the outreach efforts and working with our staff throughout the process. I want to thank the Long Beach Library Foundation for engaging and supporting in this process for the and for their commitment to our North Library campaign. I want to thank Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta for their sororities for engaging in this historic process. And finally, a big thank you to the over two. Community members who participated in the library, community discussions, focus groups and the housing neighborhoods, community meeting. So there's been a tremendous level of outreach and in for the first time we can make history by naming a library after a person of color and in the same gesture demonstrate that we're forward thinking city, which values the opinions of its youth. Quickly, I have I have a question for our director of Library Services. Thus, the Council has invested funds for an opening day selection for our new library. Can you tell us about that investment and what that brings starting the library? Yes. Councilmember Richardson, the $400,000 excuse me, approved by city council will purchase about 17,500 volumes for the new North Library. They're going to be books for reading pleasure, as well as information and instruction and all subject areas. And that would be for little ones. Our school age children are teens, are adults and are seniors. Thank you. So I'm personally excited at the opportunity to engage with these 17,000 new volumes of books in this new library. I'm excited to take my daughter there and and to introduce her to the new stories and open up her imagination. Personally, living in a forward thinking city that acknowledges contemporary heroes like First Lady Michelle Obama and values diversity and literacy is an added bonus to raising my family in this great city. But I've said this from beginning. I'll say it again now. We fall short if we don't utilize this library to inspire a new generation of library patrons and readers. So that said, on March 2nd, read Across America Day. We're going to launch our read with RECs challenge. So we're going to be challenging our community to get library cards and to check out and read 25,000 books within the first 100 days of the library opening. I'm excited to launch this challenge. I can't wait to share more with you on how you can get involved. On March 2nd. In addition, we're going to be turning our attention to the Library Foundation's public fundraising efforts to support them to make sure we have the technology and capital resources necessary to meet the needs of our community. Next, during the OUT during our outreach over the past few weeks, we asked the community their input on the process in general. While this process was consistent with other processes in city history, we have the responsibility to figure out how we can continue to improve on this process. So as a part of my motion tonight, I'm going to ask staff to take the event, evaluate the feedback received through this process, and make recommendations to our Council on ways we can use technology and other means of engagement to improve naming processes in the future. So that said, I'm proud tonight to make the motion to approve the recommendation of the Housing Neighborhoods Committee and naming the North Neighborhood Branch, the North New North Branch Library, the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, in honor of her contributions to youth education literacy in the United States and to further explore opportunities to improve our city's naming process . Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Andrews. Yes. Yes. Mayor, real quickly, I want to thank our Councilman Richardson for bringing this forward. And I need not to say much more about it, because I think he went through everything very eloquently and let everyone know that the community voted unanimously to favor, you know, renaming the new library for Michelle Obama. And I think it's a wonderful idea. And I want to congratulate you again, Councilman Richardson, for bringing this forward. Thank you very much. Thank you. Let me open it up now for public comment. There's public comment on the item. Please come forward. And just make sure you say your name for the record, please. My name is Benjamin Miranda. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and council members. My name is Benjamin Miranda, representing the program at David Star Jordan High School. I'm current president of the Omega Brothers. I'm here to present to you why we would like to name the library being built in the north Long Beach in north Long Beach after Michelle Obama as an individual, why do an individual why do I choose the name? Why do I choose to name this library, the specific name of the First Lady? She's done a lot from promoting healthy eating to creating community projects. She's a she's accomplished many goals from advocating poverty, higher education and healthy living. Michelle Obama decided to use her position by making the Let's Move program, which has the potential to lead the childhood obesity epidemic in the right path. As the program was running. She's made a lot of progress by trying to keep the youth of America eating healthier and getting active, to show her gratitude and our appreciation for her efforts. We decided to pitch her name for the library. She's been successful in all her programs. She's also a role model to the citizens across the nation due to her successful program and her success as a first lady. Also, we have to pay attention to our youth. Our youth reflect Michelle Obama as a person. She's paid close attention to our educational system because she wants all of us to have a bright future. They see a local library with one of their role models name on it. They're about to go and check it out. I, for one, would go off then so I can check out their books. As a program, we agree that she deserves the naming of the library. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening. My name is Margaret Turley and I'm a resident of the ninth District and I would like to thank the council and I'd like to thank my city councilman for bringing this issue up to name the library after Michelle Obama. But I believe the library is one that we truly need in our district, and I believe that it will help educate and serve our community. And I believe that Michelle Obama would appreciate the fact that the library was considered by the youth to be named after her. And so I think I'm in very much support of this library. And I'd just like to say thank you to the community for coming out, too, because I believe it was a diverse and also transparent meeting. So I'm also in support of the library and of naming it Michelle Obama. So thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening. My name is Kate Azhar. I'm the interim executive director of the Long Beach Public Library Foundation. As most of you know, the Library Foundation has been very supportive of all library issues in Long Beach, and in particular because this has been such an exciting issue that the community has been really involved in. We have really urged that this process engage the community and every step of the way to decide a new name for the North Library. And we've been very proud of those who've arrived this evening at the other community meetings and their involvement. We thank Councilman Richardson for his partnership in engaging the community both on this issue and others. We've been working with them, as you said, on our campaign to raise the much needed funds for the new North Library. We fully support his recommendation that we look at the process for the future of naming buildings in Long Beach and ensure that the community has a say because it's clear that the community wants to participate in this process. I've said it before that that our foundation will continue to support the North Library and all our libraries, regardless of their names. So I really hope that the rest of the council and the community will show equal engagement and support for our campaign to raise the much needed funds that will provide resources that are needed to make this library truly great. Things like the Family Learning Center, the digital studio. This is work we've been doing for 20 years as of this year, and we can't do it alone. So I ask that you, the Council and the community get involved in our campaign to continue to make this library great, that whoever's name should appear on the front. They can be truly proud and the community can be proud of what's inside the library as well. Thank you. Thank you. Other speakers, please. Good evening. My name is Ben Rockwell. Reside at Fifth and Magnolia. I'm surprised that Maya Angelou's name was not brought up as a possible suggestion, since she is one of the wonderful prominent. Persons of color who is now deceased. And I think it would have been a great honor to have the name named the Maya Angelou Public Library. However, I have no objections to using Michelle Obama. I just thought that that would have been an excellent name to give honor to Maya Angelou, who was at one time our great and wonderful poet and of America. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Look at. Very good. You click as the address. Let the record reflect the last time this came before this council. At the direction of the city attorney who initially blew the whistle and. Saying in the process that at that point it was in direct violation of the Brown Act. They went through a series of community meetings. The last time. Then it was reference that this city council. The Council person said we had a a. Outreach meeting, a community meeting. Well-attended, well-attended, the operative words. Three, 3 minutes later, I filed a public records request asking for those records of that meeting. You've seen the copy. Public records, the very diligent office sent me saying those will not be available until September 26. That's strange. The olfactory senses. All right. Being out and out elbowing. Michelle Obama. They monitor, there would be an embarrassment to the first lady. All right. Her husband might be a turkey, but you do not embarrass the first lady of the United States, period. Yes, sir. You can make your comments, but I would just try to be respectful of of the president and of the process. So please go on. You do not embarrass the first lady of the United States by elbowing or her name in here. I personally believe I side with the former two council people that had 20 years of experience and familiarity. And suggested that if he should be named after somebody locally here within the city, there exists no you should understand. The commendable work that the first lady does is part of her de facto portfolio. Unlike your parents, she doesn't go out and carpool you to school or after school. She doesn't take the trash out. She doesn't do the clean up, the do your sewing, do your laundry. She doesn't try to fix that broken lamp. You. Accidentally broke when you threw a house party one weekend when they weren't home. That's part of the job. She does a great thing. So the fact that she's involved is no great. Achievement period. We do have ample inventory of people here in this city. That deserve it. I happen to personally believe it should be. Eleanor Schmidt, the 20 year director of the library services. But make no mistake, she will not come within ten, 100 miles of this place knowing, and she will know she will have the full record of being. Her name is there because the more qualified people were elbowed out. Thank you, political pipsqueak. For your time's up. Thank you. Always very respectful of your comments. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, honorable mayor and all the city council representatives. My name is Linda Wilson. My address is on file. And first of all, I'd like to say thank you to all of you for your attention and this recommendation. I want to attest to the fact that it's been a process that I have not experienced before. However, it was well run, well orchestrated and well-attended by those who were interested in the process. I want to say that this is an excellent name. It's been well endorsed, and I would really like to urge that we had so many young people to get involved in this process. And I've not seen that much energy in the process of this nature in a very long time. Our young people have voiced and have submitted the name that they would like to see. And they are our future. They are now, but they are also our future. They will be the ones and their children will be the ones that will be utilizing this library. And I urge you and I thank you in advance for casting a vote in favor of Michelle Obama. Neighborhood Library. Thank you for your time and attention. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening. My name is Joanie Ricks, O.D., and I am a member of District nine. And I just simply want to say thank you, Rex Richardson, for bringing this forward to the council. It's really exciting for us as residents to see the engagement. And I would just like to say, I think that our first lady would be honored to know that we have young people in our district that think so highly of her that they would want to name it after her. And I just think it's just a testament to where the ninth District has come, where we are going. And so I just end with saying thank you and go uptown. Thank you. Next speaker, please. I'm Reverend Leon Wood from the seventh District. What I wanted to to actually mention here that that the recommendation for. Michelle Obama for the library reflects the entire city council that we have here. Long Beach is is is represents change. It represents what's going to happen in the future. We have now a progressive city council who are making progressive decisions. And Michelle Obama, as the library just reflects an advanced city that's moving forward where people are going to be to work together. Multi-ethnic groups of people working together on one accord, and I thank you very much, and I think you all should be commended for what you've done thus far. So thank you very much. Thank you. Any other speakers? Please come forward. Okay. No other speakers. Okay. See? See no other speakers. There is a motion and a second before we cast your vote. I just want to first I want to thank all the the young people that are here. I think it's really important that you guys were very active in this process. And I want to thank the councilman for ensuring that young people had an important voice in this process. And so, like all of you, I look forward to visiting this library. And I think that the woman's name, who will be most likely here on that on that library, is just a great symbol of what our country is about, which is someone that that that represents everyone that's successful. She's successful on her own in spite of her, her husband, and represents not just the nation, but I think a lot of the values of North Palm Beach as well. And so thank you for for what you've done. And Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Okay. Thank you all. Next item, please.