Gloria Erlich of Princeton
Regarding the library parking problem as reported in The Princeton Packet on Nov. 30, I share Howard Silbersher’s frustration with the current access situation, but prefer to address the issue from a different, more radical, direction.
Rather than discuss how much the township ought to pay to provide limited free parking, I think we should question why the township should pay anything for its citizens to use what is supposed to be a free library.
The township pays the lion’s share to build and maintain a library in a location that serves borough residents and downtown interests better than it serves the needs of people who live in the township.
Although it is too late to undo the costly error, many of us are still angry at the choice to locate the library in the most congested part of what has become a tourist destination rather than a town center.
A site such as that of the Valley Road School, which was ripe for demolition, would have provided ample space not only for free and easy parking, but also for pleasant outdoor space.
I compare our now inaccessible library to the wonderful one in Mountain View, Calif., which has ample parking and opens onto a park with an imaginative children’s playground. (Incidentally, that library lends up to 10 videos at a time for two weeks at no cost to borrowers.)
Yes, our library plaza is very nice, but how can we stop to enjoy it or the library now that downtown Princeton has become inaccessible through massive congestion and will become more so when the Arts Council opens?
Why did the township government participate in building a library where most of us have to use an expensive and badly designed parking garage?
Although we have outstanding librarians and a great collection, many of us feel that we have lost our beloved library because of faulty political decisions.

