opinion

Briggs: Priced out of Mass Ave., Indy Reads Books finds a new home in Indianapolis

If you’re going to lose your neighborhood library, this is the best way for it to happen.

Oh, right, about that. Fountain Square, I have some bad news. You’re losing your library. But there is good news, too. You’re gaining something that looks ... well, a lot like a library.

More on that in a moment.

For years, the library’s impending departure has been hovering over Virginia Avenue like a rain cloud that everyone tries to ignore. The Indianapolis Public Library announced way back in 2014 that it was closing five branches, including Fountain Square, and absorbing them into other locations as part of a strategy to make the library system accessible to more people across Marion County.

It hasn’t gone as planned. The Fountain Square library was supposed to close in 2018. But, because of several factors, the neighborhood has held onto the library for so long that people barely remember it was supposed to close ⁠— and those who do recall have been hoping that maybe the library forgot about it.

“We told people, well, it's been delayed, so we're not going yet,” Indianapolis Public Library CEO Jackie Nytes said. “And everybody was like, ‘OK, good. That means we’re going to keep you.’ No, we’re just going to delay.”

The library had planned to keep delaying its exit from Fountain Square until mid-2021. But, in recent months, library officials started discussing the Fountain Square space with literacy nonprofit Indy Reads, which has been facing some bad news of its own. Together, they reached a deal that is about to give Fountain Square book lovers a relatively happy ending.

An Indianapolis Public Library Board committee is scheduled to vote tonight on a proposal to terminate the Fountain Square lease on May 31. If the committee — and, later this month, the full board — approve the plan, then Indy Reads will take over in June and move its Massachusetts Avenue bookstore to Fountain Square.

Oh, right, about that.

‘So much more than a bookstore’

Indy Reads has seen the writing on the wall for years.

The nonprofit has operated a bookstore, Indy Reads Books, since 2012 on the north end of Mass Ave. But, as Mass Ave. has become more desirable to high-end retailers — a dynamic that is accelerating with the development of the Bottleworks District — the bookstore has been on perilous footing.

Indy Reads realized it could not afford to stay on Mass Ave. beyond August, when its lease expires. The landlord is “seeking market value,” Indy Reads CEO Ryan King said, while adding the bookstore has received a generous rent price in recent years.

Indy Reads could have advanced its mission without a bookstore. The nonprofit provides literacy education, including classes and tutoring — activities that don’t require retail space.

“It would be very easy for us to think about, do we really need a bookstore,” King said. “But our bookstore is so much more than just a bookstore. It is truly an asset to the community. It’s not just a moneymaker for us, because, honestly, it’s not much, but the real value is the programs that go on and bring people together to have discussions.”

Indy Reads wanted to not only stay somewhere around Downtown, but also replicate the neighborhood vibe that exists around Mass Ave. — and for a price affordable to a literacy nonprofit.

“Our option otherwise would be to go to a less commercially vibrant area, which would impact the sales of Indy Reads Books, which would impact the revenue we’re able to reinvest in our literacy,” said John Barth, president of the Indy Reads board. “If we’re not in a place like (Mass Ave.) that has retail vibrancy, then we’re going to be in a much less appealing location, where people have to make purposeful choices to come see us.”

The public library space is about as close to perfect as it gets.

The library’s space is on a prominent corner, where Virginia Avenue meets Prospect Street and Shelby Street. It’s near popular bars and restaurants, attracting a high volume of foot traffic. The building is owned by Southeast Neighborhood Development, an organization that operates 22 affordable housing units for seniors.

SEND has leased the 5,000-square-foot space to the library for a below-market-value rate of $59,000 per year. SEND is offering a similar deal to Indy Reads on a 5-year lease with an option for renewal. That should offer a sense of stability for Indy Reads, even as it moves from one gentrifying neighborhood to another.

“(People) may not have been aware that (the library closing) was always the plan,” SEND President Kelli Mirgeaux said. “In fact, we’ve been blessed to have them as long as we have. And then you start talking about Indy Reads, a bookstore, bringing it to the neighborhood and you look at their programs and services and their events. People are excited.”

'Many wonderful parallels'

If the full library board approves the lease termination, Indy Reads plans to move its bookstore to Fountain Square in August. The nonprofit will spend a yet-to-be determined amount of money renovating the library space to accommodate book sales and event space.

Indy Reads held about 200 events last year and plans to keep up that pace in Fountain Square. The nonprofit’s public outreach is perhaps the greatest reason why it’s a fitting replacement for the library.

While many people think about libraries as providers of books and internet access, modern libraries to some extent have also taken on the role of social service providers. Nytes, the library CEO, said some frequent patrons of the Fountain Square branch might find that they will receive more personalized attention at Southeast Community Services, a community center two blocks away.

Yet, Indy Reads can continue fulfilling at least some functions that the library provides.

“For this community, they’re actually going to be more vibrant than we are,” Nytes said. “They’re going to have author visits, which, we don’t often bring author visits to a branch. They do story hours, where little kids can read to a therapy dog, just like we do in our branches. So, there are many wonderful parallels.”

Nytes expects many Fountain Square neighbors to be unhappy with the library’s move — just as they were when the planned departure was first announced. But, she said, the library is leaving the neighborhood well served by other nearby branches and the addition of a mission-oriented bookstore.

The library could have postponed the sting of leaving for another year. But, by leaving now, the library is offering a new home to Indy Reads and some comforting continuity to the Fountain Square neighborhood.

Contact IndyStar metro columnist James Briggs at 317-444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.