Hello Ms. Antokal,

Thank you for your letter. You obviously have a lot of passion and love for your work and the children (and others) you served!

The Urban League is creating the opportunity to continue the work you described and more. One day a week of library services is not sufficient for our community and we are not going to accept that, or total closure, as the final reality for the Mason Sq. Library. There will be substantial collections available to library users and the city will now be responsible for operating the library in partnership with the Urban League. We will help provide capacity to allow for library services 5 days a week. Further, the League will partner with the 5 schools within the Mason Sq. footprint, to operate collaborative educational and literacy programs to promote reading and academic proficiency.

With all due respect, to suggest that our intentions are anything less then noble and with the best interest of our constituents is an unacceptable insult. Hence, we are not persuaded by such egregious arguments. This not about Henry Thomas or any other personalities; this is about insuring two vital institutions in the Mason Sq. Community remain vital and possess the capacity to served their constituencies. Please do not take lightly that the Urban League of Springfield has served, assisted and helped thousands of people who have been disenfranchised, discriminated against and treated less than full citizens at times for 90 years in the Mason Sq. community. Lives have been saved, children and adults have been educated, jobs and training have been obtained, and public policies have been successfully challenged as a direct result of Urban League interventions over the years. We do not intent squander or mitigate our role in the community, even in the face of some opposition.

By the way, there is no monolithic view on this matter. I hear from far more people in support of what the Urban League is planning then in opposition; and we haven't tried to organize any ground swell of support, at this point. However, we did talk to every principal, clergy, social service agency director and neighborhood council member in the Mason Sq. community before we announce our plans. We received overwhelming support; particularly when some of the misinformation that opponents have been advancing......Such as, the Library is going be book drop center; or it's going to be transformed into a reading room; or the collections are going to very scant---i don't call 10,000 collections scant, especially when the balance of the collections will remain in the building or, the library will be managed by inexperienced volunteers and youth workers. the other piece of misinformation is that the Davis foundation is buying the building for us--which is absurd. I'm not suggesting you are saying these things, but many who represent the dissenting view point to the building sale have publicly and privately made such statements.

The Urban League reasonably relied on the SLMA's ability to perform on this transaction, in that, they own the building. If that is not true, then the sale will not got through. Another important point to mentioned is that our negotiations with the SLMA started well before the City council Convened a special committee to study the libraries.
Even though I may be taking some strong exceptions to your viewpoint, I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to convey your heartfelt opinion. The good news is that, I believe both sides of this issue have the best interest of libraries and the children and adults that use them. Whatever the final outcome, that core value will prevail.

Regards,
Henry
President/CEO
Urban League of Springfield,Inc.
756 State St.
Springfield, Ma. 01109
Phone-413-7399826
Fax-413-7478668
Email-henrymthom@aol.com