The Gage Park Library on 55th and California is a small storefront library with limited resources that is inaccessible for the community. Our neighborhoods library was closed for 16 months because it was too small and ill-equipped to safely reopen. The buildings lease is coming to a close and we would like to see the City of Chicago, CPS, CPL and elected officials come together to build Gage Parks 55,000 residents a brand new library that is fully stocked with new facilities, equipment and resources. The only new construction we see in gage park are factories and we want to see an investment in our youths future by building them a state of the art library they can be proud of. 

Even when the library was open it was plagued with a limited selection of Spanish language books, no Spanish speaking staff, no teen space, no children's librarian or children's programs, a leaky celling, power outages, old computers and the physical space is not wheelchair accessible and has no public parking. It is time for Gage Park to get a 21st century library that will tackle the educational inequality that the youth of our Black and Brown community have been facing for decades.

In Solidarity, 

Gage Park Latinx Council