DULUTH – Mayor Roger Reinert is exploring a move that would spell the end of the ore boat-like modernist library that sits at the mouth of downtown, potentially moving the main branch to a far-flung medical facility on the fringes of Duluth.
An email from the library’s manager, sent to city councilors on Thursday and shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune, said the administration was in the early stages of vetting the idea. Reinert said in an interview that he’s committed to maintaining a downtown library presence in a new leased space, and there would be no lapse in downtown service.
The library move could play into a major downtown revitalization effort, as Duluth struggles to fill vacant buildings in the wake of the pandemic and fights petty crime and perceptions of an unsafe neighborhood. Reinert has said more housing downtown is key to fixing its image, and the library site could present a redevelopment opportunity.
On Thursday, he said the plan to move the main library and create a fourth branch was still just a concept, but the new location would be appealing to Hermantown, which isn’t close to other Duluth branches. He said he’d like the library system to act in a more regional manner, drawing financial support from the surrounding communities that also use it. About a third of cardholders are not Duluth residents, Reinert said.
Setting up such a library district would involve the state.
Former Mayor Emily Larson was working toward a new or extensively renovated library in the current downtown space. Reinert said he’d like to see housing, professional services and retail on that property.
“If you look at how the community has evolved, that location is one of our best opportunities to add some residential [housing] into downtown,” he said.
Councilor Wendy Durrwachter said she was interested in the concept of moving library headquarters if it meant other cities would help pay for the library system. But she hoped that essential services that the city’s unhoused and other vulnerable populations rely on at the library would stay with a new downtown location.
