The Observation Deck

I must admit I'm somewhat confounded.....

Last week, the PD ran a large article by Litt concerning the Library design..

This followed the unique groundbreaking ceremony that had occurred the prior weekend and was covered quite well in this week's Observer....

And then today, the Sun Post who didn't give any coverage to the groundbreaking has a front page article about the temporary Detroit Ave. sidewalks....

Not that I expect the Sun papers to be a civic cheerleader, but would'nt you think that the grounbreaking and design of a project of this magnitude and impact would be covered from the angle of construction commenment rather than a focus on construction inconvenience?

Jeff

Jeff/All

While I appreciated the column in the Plain Dealer on the Library renovation I did hate the qualifier they brought up at least 3 times.

That Lakewood "only had 13 million dollars to spend on the renovation." That we are so poor...

The story should have been about how Lakewood was able to put 17 million into an update of the state's best library and that Ken and the board was able to secure the talents of one of the better arcthects in America, while keeping him to a realistic budget.

I am so sick of the outside media beating Lakewood down when we are doing good things.

As for the Sun Papers and the Lakewood Sun Post. I understand their problem. They have dedicated three pages every week to Lakewood. 3/4 of one page is the police blotter. so that barely gives us 2 pages. They also have only one reporter covering the city and I believe that is part time. It has to be tough to cover the all the good news in Lakewood with only two pages.


FWIW

I wondered whether the groundbreaking's Sunday date had something to do with the lack of coverage.

The Observer is extremely lucky that it is supported by volunteers (we can always use more!) who make an effort to attend Lakewood events.

While I didn't bring my camera, it would have been possible for any number of Observers who attended this touching, "people's" groundbreaking to quickly write up a story (although not with Mr. Guscott's perspective). This wasn't the usual type of groundbreaking and I thought the inclusive nature of the event was worth noting.

John Guscott's article was excellent and I enjoyed reading details about the event that were not obvious (Library trustee Paul Dimmick constructed a wooden box from scrap wood taken from the old Children’s room to serve as the container holding the earth.) It was noteworthy to me that Mr. Guscott, as a library employee, presented a unique "insider" view. Rather than collecting quotes, actually having a talented writer from the library tell the story is unique.

The Lakewood Observer is not like the other newspapers and cannot be, due to its very nature of being an all-volunteer production. I would suggest that it is nearly impossible for other papers to match the dedication, enthusiasm and talent of Lakewood Observer volunteers.

But then I am clearly biased.

I know that traffic is going to be severely annoying on Detroit due to all the construction. I'm ok with that. I have an image of a young mother walking down the sidewalk holding her daughter in her arms, telling the girl, "That's where the beautiful new library is being built. Remember how we saw the new "Y"? Won't it be fun when we can go in?"

I noticed an ad in today’s Sun Post – “A Pervert’s Paradise?â€Â￾ for an upcoming Carl Monday report on "Library/Sex/Pornography" on News 3.

Back in April, I received a public records request for all incident reports going back to November 2005.

Yesterday Carl Monday visited to ask about two incidents. One was an incident of complaint from a woman pointing to a man who she said was in the women’s rest room.

I investigated and could not substantiate the claim. The man denied the claim. There was no evidence, no pattern, no crime, no action was taken.

A second incident that Mr. Monday inquired about was a man our maintenance manager found naked in the basement men’s rest room. Precipitating this experience in the naked truth, the man had soiled himself and was attempting to clean himself. He did become verbally abusive and careless in behavior. The police were called.

Mr. Monday asked me about any other sex related acts. I told him there was a masturbator caught a year or so ago. Police were called and he was arrested.

Mr. Monday asked about Internet pornography. I explained our design, our policy and our practice. He said he was surprised there were not more incidents. I told him if we believe we are witnessing a crime involving pornography we call the police who will make a determination. If we think the material is detracting from the decorum and enjoyment of the technology center we bring the matter to the patron's attention. Our resources are limited and education and information are the focus. He said we do things differently than the other more liberal libraries. I showed him the room.

Mr. Monday asked me what assurances I could give parents that the library was safe for children. I told him we pay attention to what's happening and work closely with police. I assured him we have an attentive and competent staff. I also showed him the new design of the library, which has a more secure children’s space with designed children’s rest rooms.

Mr. Monday said there will be other libraries in the story.

It is impossible to predict how Lakewood’s incidents will play into a report on "Lewd Libraries."

I wanted to let you know about the issues and that Monday at 11 or Tuesday at 11, LPL will be in the news again.

Thanks for your support.

Kenneth Warren
Director
Lakewood Public Library

Mr. Warren,

I can only hope that Mr. Monday has the ethics to portray the full and unbiased accounting of any incident or facility.

I am NOT a fan of the new local news format and have been on a letter writing binge for quite some time to executives to let them know of my displeasure.

I am particularly annoyed when a reporter finds a grain of controversy and then creates a full-blown scandal - a tactic that used to belong mostly to Mr. Monday. Alas, he now competes with FOX for the title of most sensationalistic garbage per hour.

(feel the love.... feel the love...)

I'll be watching and I hope others do to. If, by chance, we are not properly represented, I urge everyone to whip out their pens and/or keyboards and make Lakewood's voice heard.

** Offa the soapbox now **

~Charyn

Charyn

I give the chance of them being fair 0%, this is part of sweeps week. Judging by the title, the ad, and it appearing early in the week I have a feeling they will be playing ti for all they can.

As they all like to attack Channel 19 for being sinsational, they crave the numbers.

FWIW


.

Mr. Warren-

We watched Carl Monday's report last night. LPL was not sensational enough to get a mention in part 1.

Monday did have a video from a library who had a male patron with no... sense of decorum (to put it mildly) who was confronted outside of his parents' home. The parents came out after a bit and attempted to assult Mr. Monday and his crew.

I have a feeling that due to your fine direction (and fine staff), LPL may not make the sweeps-related story.

LPL did make Monday's story, a film of the computer center was shown and Ken Warren was quoted on camera. At the close of the story the anchor described Lakewood as being "tough."

Tom Powell-Bullock wrote:I'd love to see a public square put in there ringed by cafe's with sidewalk tables. Saturdays and Sundays during warm-weather months, this could host a Lakewood street-market--featuring the goods of local vendors.

Concept: build on Lakewood's walkability and densely-packed population. Make our diverse community the asset itself by encouraging people-watching, paper-reading, coffee-drinking on the public plaza one of our community highlights.

It remains to be seen if Lakewood can survive the twin loss of Bob Big Boys and Discount Drug Mart. The areas closer to the Hospital always struck me as well suited for standing around and staring at people. They move slower and drive more expensive cars. That is an excellent place to expand on the people watching based economy.