Letter to the Editor: Downey Library closure

Dear Editor:

I want to echo John DeLaney’s concerns about the Downey Library renovations in last week’s Patriot. I, too, am very disappointed about the fact that we have not had access to our library now for two whole years. 

Senior librarian Dan Martin told us this past January at the Downey Coordinating Council meeting that the library would open by the end of this summer. I understand that because of the coronavirus, all libraries have been temporarily closed. But the construction on the Downey Library is still not finished and we have no word of when it will be done. 

My grandkids came here from Florida this summer for their annual month-long visit. One of the things they wanted most was to visit a library here. Of course, that didn’t happen. I have a visitor staying with us and I would like to get her some books to read. And I have a collection of boxes of books of ours and from friends and relatives to donate and I don’t know what to do with them. They are wonderful books and I know so many people would love to read them. 

We, the residents of Downey, need to have an update of what is happening to our library, what are the possibilities of opening it in the future, and we should be kept informed, hopefully by the Downey Patriot. 

I went to the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Long Beach yesterday and bought a book inside the store. They are all now open, with social distancing, limited number of customers, no sitting down, and mandatory masks. If they can open, why can’t our taxpayer-funded libraries do the same? 

We need answers. 

Anita Rivero
Downey