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The South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library at 1901 Russell St. on its opening day in May 2013. Photo: Richard Friedman
The Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) will hold a special session Thursday May 7 at 6:30 p.m. to make a final decision on a community proposal to rename the South Branch library after a local activist.
At its April 22 meeting, BOLT considered the petition to rename the branch at 1901 Russell Street after the late Tarea Hall Pittman, a black civil-rights leader and radio host who lived nearby. The five members heard impassioned speeches from community members and ultimately voted 3-2 against a motion to suspend the library naming policy, which would have allowed them to vote on the proposal.
Two of the trustees who voted against the motion, Julie Holcomb and Jim Novosel, were up for reappointment at the April 28 council meeting.
At that meeting, Councilman Laurie Capitelli pushed the item to the June meeting to allow for further discussions about the name change.
“I realize that there are a lot of people here tonight to support Ms. Pittman and I think probably a lot of frustration in the audience coming from last Wednesday’s meeting,” he said. “I think people of goodwill are reaching out to one another. I think we’re going to find a path forward.”(...)
Read the rest of Library to reconsider proposal to rename South Branch (823 words)
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Post tags: Abigail Franklin, Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley South Branch library, Board of LIbrary Trustees, Carole Kennerly, Charles Austin, Darryl Moore, Jeff Scott, Julie Holcomb, Laurie Capitelli, Tarea Hall Pittman
