CADL move from Capital Avenue location under ‘active consideration’

FRIDAY, Sept. 27 — Moving the downtown Lansing branch and executive offices of the Capital Area District Libraries is under “active consideration” because in part the cost of maintaining its  60-year-old building on Capital Avenue, a CADL official said today.

“Although there is active consideration of moving out of the downtown building in the future, there isn't a finalized plan of where or when that might happen,” said Victoria Meadows, CADL’s marketing and communications director.

“The ongoing maintenance costs of the downtown building is one of the considerations in deciding about making a move. We don't have a timeline for this process and expect it will take a lot of time and exploration to determine what the options are, which could happen in phases,” she added in an emailed statement.

CADL rents the building from the Lansing School District.

Superintendent Ben Shuldiner indicated today that the school district would try to find a way to keep the building in use should CADL move out.

“If CADL, for whatever reason, decides it is in their best interest to move to another building to better serve Lansing, the School District would continue to be a great steward of the building and work with the Lansing School District community to come up with a thoughtful use of the space,” he said by email.

Jenny Marr, CADL’s executive director since 2023, was out of town at a conference. But she issued an earlier statement to City Pulse today that said:

“CADL is always evaluating the ever-evolving needs of our service communities and where we'll be best placed to serve those needs. We are committed to working with all of our community partners in Lansing and Ingham County to ensure quality library services while maintaining our excellent record of strong and responsible fiscal stewardship.

"To that end, we are considering expanding our physical footprint to increase library access to communities in our service area.

"With respect to our Downtown Lansing location, we have a long-term lease with the Lansing School District that expires in 2048. Should the time come to make a move, we will coordinate with our partners at the City of Lansing and the school district.

“We're heading down a path, but our plans are still in a preliminary stage.”

The reference to expansion may have been to the topic of a closed session of CADL’s Board of Trustees on July 24.

The meeting’s minutes said the closed session was to “consider the purchase or lease of real property” and lasted 57 minutes.

Efforts to reach board members today to comment on the closed session were unsuccessful. Meadows said she could not comment.

One source said that CADL has received a bid for property on Wood Street in Lansing Township, where CADL does not have a presence.

Asked for comment. Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said today that it s "important" to maintain library services downtown.

"I have just been made aware and will be actively tracking this," he said by text. "I certainly understand the issues of costs involved and want our taxpayer dollars going to services to our residents, but it is also important to have library options available downtown. I look forward to hearing the conversations and discussions as they move forward."