By: Diane Benjamin Instead of a Committee of the Whole meeting, the Bloomington City Council is holding a retreat tonight: Agenda: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4096/files/agenda/8026 Since it is being held at the library, no video will be produced. . If citizens want to know what is being planned they have to attend. See the agenda for details.
By: Diane Benjamin Committee of the Whole meetings are pre-vote discussions. Most items discussed come back for a vote at future Council meetings. No votes are taken at COW meetings. Read about any of these agenda items here: https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1035/files/agenda/6930 . This mockup is included for item B: … . Hopefully the pole gets painted before […]
By: Diane Benjamin Have you heard somebody say obscene books for kids were approved by the American Library Association? I sure have. The people who follow that logic may or may not know who is in charge of the ALA. Parents need to know! This is who was elected last year to lead the ALA: […]
By: Diane Benjamin The last line proves the real goal is chaos. Not removing criminals from society means more crime. Seen the crime rate in cities with Soros prosecutors? Pushing transgender ideology on kids VERY likely to outgrow it is evil. It’s hard enough growing up, stop pushing chaos that will leave permanent damage. Adults […]
By: Diane Benjamin Board Report from the September meeting: If you want to see data (it’s worse!) going back to 2013, see this story: https://blnnews.com/2019/04/12/bloomington-library-continues-traffic-decline/ The Library renovation was sold as needing more space because the library was built in 1976 when the population was only 42,000. Obviously the trends above do not show traffic […]
See another book the library had on display on May below. H/t a reader. By: Diane Benjamin Maybe this is why Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe refused to consider appointing new people to the Library Board who applied, he reappointed Renner’s people instead. See this 2019 story about a conference some library personnel attended: https://blnnews.com/2019/07/20/drag-queens-at-the-library/ This national […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the Bloomington City Council meeting last night Jeanne Hamilton announced the State had given them a grant of over $5.6 million for the expansion. Of course, they won’t be using all of it to decrease the property tax increase. See 4:15. I might have lost track, but I counted 13 comments […]
By: Diane Benjamin Good News for most residents of Arrowsmith, Bloomington, Dale, Dawson, and Old Town Townships who are served by Golden Prairie Public Library District: Your property taxes will not be going up if the Bloomington Library property tax increase is approved! These township residents have full access to the Bloomington Public Library without paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin Attention Mayor Mboka: You don’t have a right to limit speech! Read up, Urbana just paid attorney’s fees to settle a lawsuit against them for doing exactly what you did last night: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2021/10/urbana-settled-open-meetings-public-comment-lawsuit/ The comment Mboka objected to starts at 25:29. The lady could be called clueless, combative, obnoxious, and probably other […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I caught somebody from the Bloomington library on a Peoria news station. The woman, I didn’t catch her name, claimed the plans were created by talking to the public. Obviously not the public I talk to. I dare the Library Board to put a non-binding referendum on the next ballot, Yes […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last week I was at the Tri-Valley High School. They recently finished a renovation that included a new library. I was shocked to see what was missing: BOOKS. The library had some books but not shelf-covered walls normally associated with a library. My tour guide told me the kids don’t read books […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the residents with damaged property due to flooding last June didn’t show up at Council. They have been to every other Council meeting since June making Public Comments. Maybe they were too appalled the Library would claim $20 million+ was all they need for GLORIOUS while their homes remain damaged […]
By: Diane Benjamin This meeting will take more than one story, it was another 2 hour assemblage. The expansion to the library has been taking shape for years, it will not be stopped by this Council. Tari Renner made sure the library stayed downtown, he appointed people to the Library Board who believed it should […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-SgGF0uzhIlXeWqdYlJ0blXEhDPLrrfh/view I could write the same story as every other month. Expenses for October were over $1,1 MILLION, Income was a little less than $59,000, meaning a loss for ONE MONTH of $973,317. No big deal since government keeps throwing them millions of dollars to them to run empty buses. Of course […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course the current meeting room is frequently booked – it’s free. Does that mean taxpayers should build 2 more free rooms? The big reason given for the Bloomington Library expansion is it was built decades ago for a smaller population. That doesn’t explain the consistent decrease in circulation since 2013, except […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Public Library wants another tax hike. They are still looking to expand. What is clear is they aren’t expanding for books. To keep traffic coming to the library their focus is events. http://www.bloomingtonlibrary.org/Assets/files/bpl_board/boardpackets/2019/2019.10bplboardpacket.pdf Do taxpayers get a voice? Does the Bloomington Library exist to hold free events? Is that something […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you didn’t know, there is an establishment in downtown Bloomington that holds drag queen story hours for kids. Since they are a private business, they can do whatever they want. Next weekend is the 2nd Pride Fest. Last year people told me it was not a kid friendly event Holding […]
By: Diane Benjamin PDF page 14 – Bloomington Public Library Board Meeting: The “Active Users” is the only number that has increased. PDF pages 29 and 30 show E-book and computer use are both higher than last year. More space for books is obviously not needed since circulation numbers continue to decrease. The library does […]
By: Diane Benjamin The chart below is included in the Board Packet for the November meeting of the Bloomington Public Library Board. PDF page 14: http://www.bloomingtonlibrary.org/Assets/files/bpl_board/boardpackets/2018/2018.11bplboardpacket.pdf Circulation has been declining since 2013. “Active Users” isn’t defined, but the increase isn’t because they are checking out materials. This story recaps the facts available for October 2017, […]
By: Diane Benjamin The expansion plans for the Bloomington Library weren’t well received by anybody on the council except Tari. Amelia Buragas still wants to move the library claiming people want it closer to downtown. The expansion plans presented still don’t provide enough parking according to Amelia and City Code. Several think parking isn’t needed […]
By: Diane Benjamin We may find out tonight at the Committee of the Whole meeting. The Library staff is making their presentation on how plans are going. They should answer some questions first: From the September 2014 City manager’s report: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=7452 2014 was down from 2013! What about September of 2018? The below is from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Or is the library desperate to remain relevant in the age of internet and e-books?
By: Diane Benjamin When you think about community events, the library is the first place you think of, right? Community events already take place at Grossinger Motors Arena and the BCPA, both of which already suck up tax dollars faster than a category 5 tornado sucks up homes, but the library needs space for community […]
By: Diane Benjamin It wasn’t that long ago the data pertaining to City functions was available. We used to know what the tax receipts were – now we don’t. We used to know traffic at the library has been declining – now we have no idea. Traffic isn’t included in Library Board reports either. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the 15 second commercial run on television for the Bloomington Public Library? I received the cost by FOIA: The FOIA response claims two television commercials were produced. I only received one in response to my FOIA request. NOTE: All of the commercials that have run have not been billed. . . […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the original story: https://blnnews.com/2018/05/16/true-public-servant-cough-cough/ A reader emailed this comment to the library along with a link to the story: ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ . The writer received this response: ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Every City employee needs the same message. Thanks Jeanne Hamilton. . . . . . .
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story from two days ago: https://blnnews.com/2018/05/15/foia-fail-again-and-again/ I emailed both the City Clerk and Tari about the ridiculous .50 (fifty cents) charge and use of a disk since previous large FOIA requests have been delivered via Hightail. Yesterday afternoon I received the request digitally. Since the Clerk probably would have ignored […]
By: Diane Benjamin Being a government employee living off money stolen from hard-working taxpayers must not come with a course in what shouldn’t ever be said in public. I’m sure some laugh with each other about the sweet benefits they get and the life long spiked pension they will collect that increases automatically every year. […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader told me at the end of April the Bloomington Public Library was running ads on a Peoria TV station. On April 30th I filed a FOIA request for the ad and what they are spending on advertising. Keep in mind the City of Bloomington spends a fortune on IT and […]
By: Diane Benjamin In yet another attempt to turn the library into something it was never meant to be: http://www.bloomingtonlibrary.org/Assets/files/SRPprogramguide.pdf I wonder where the tables and chairs will be set up? How are they going to keep the jelly fingers off the books? Will the library staff have to wash kids hands after lunch? […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=16412 Below are the library stats for March 2018: It would be nice to compare these numbers to March of 2017, but nothing is in the City Manager’s Report. http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-543 It would have been nice to compare these numbers to March of 2016, but nothing is in the City Manager’s Report. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City Manager has issued a report for February. The library stats posted for 2018 are not the same stats used in 2017, so I took the ones that can be compared and turned them into a chart. 2018 Library facts: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=16111 2017 Library facts: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12434 The library wasn’t included in the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Library Stats from January of 2017: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12246 Library Stats from January of 2018: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15890 . . . . . . . / 2017 doesn’t say how many visited Items checked out decreased in 2018 People using the computers decreased in 2018 New cardholders decreased in 2018 Holds decreased in 2018 Wi-Fi […]
By: Diane Benjamin The email below was written by the Bloomington Public Library Board President. I redacted who it was written to. It’s the content that is interesting. Alex was obviously worried about getting the tax increase passed the Board wanted. According to this story, the library didn’t say at the Council meeting why they […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember that joint meeting of the Council, Library Board, and Connect Transit that 5 members of the Bloomington City Council voted not to hold? Remember Tari called a special meeting anyway? Remember how he claimed his Downtown Task Force worked for months and had a right to be heard? Remember the editorial […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is no surprise the City no longer compares years for the library in the City Managers Report. When the number are decreasing, it’s hard to convince people you need to more space. 2017 Source – PDF page 11: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15648 2016 Source – PDF page 10: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11954 2015 was not included in the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin The contemporary term false flag describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that activities appear as though they are being carried out by individual entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. This statement perfectly describes the meeting Tuesday night held by […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back when the City Manager did real Monthly Reports, the library traffic was easier to understand. It always included year-to-year comparisons. The summary now doesn’t. See this graph from October 2015: PDF page 43 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=9452 This is what was reported for October 2017: PDF page 11 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15324 Several items are noteworthy: a large […]
By: Diane Benjamin The “Special” meeting before the 7:00 Council meeting has discussions about the library and the City property tax rate. The Library Board wants a tax increase but they don’t know what it is for. Either they are going to continue plans to expand where they are or they are going to use […]
By: Diane Benjamin Downtown businesses didn’t even support the Downtown Bloomington Association. Now the DBA employees are happy City employees complete with higher salaries, benefits and pensions! The Coliseum and the Bloomington Center for Performing Arts (BCPA) were supposed to brings hoards of people downtown. The Visitor’s Center in the McLean County History Museum was […]
