On Sept. 23, after many years of determined effort, the Heights Library Board of Trustees achieved their dream of passing a resolution to evict a group of artists and community organizations from their home in the old Coventry School building.
Not what you would expect of a library board.
During the “public comments” charade before the vote (their decision was already made), there were nine passionate, evidence-based pleas for continuation of the Coventry PEACE campus from supporters, including the mayor of University Heights and the president of Cleveland Heights City Counci.
Not one person spoke up for the eviction.
Apparently, the only people who want this are the library’s director and her board.
Also, no one can figure out what they have to gain from the eviction, other than the feelings of power and self-importance that come from having something other people desperately want (which the board bought for $1 — literally) and refusing to give it to them.
It is not too late to prevent this tragedy. The library could sell the building to one of the groups that want to preserve it for the community.
If the board comes to their senses, all could still end well.
Jeremy Shapiro,
Shaker Heights
