Baldwin Library at the Birmingham Long Range Planning Meeting.

 For the City of Birmingham, the annual Long Range Planning meeting is a very big deal. For that reason it is held on a Saturday and those who attend, from the big muckity mucks, to the casual visitor just killing time while the wife tries on shoes at nearby stores, are feted with varieties of chubby bagels and steaming coffee dispensed from a half dozen large cardboard boxes.

Following on the heels of the Golden Globes and the Oscar nominations, the atmosphere is festive as befitting the promise of new and renew.


 Long Range Planning  is not however an award show. Presentations are made,  polite questions are asked, but no opinions are voiced, or decisions rendered. 

 It is however generally acknowledged  that if you make the Agenda of the Long Range Planning meeting, you are a "winner" whose presentation has qualified for serious consideration in the Birmingham of 2015. As a result everybody wants on the agenda for that meeting. 

Sometimes the agenda runs to early afternoon. This year it ended at noon and for fourth straight year the Baldwin Library was a player. In 2012 before, the commission of Mayor Nakita, In 2013 before that of Mayor Dilgard and in 2015 before the Commission of Mayor Sherman, the Library  presented orally and visually with a slide presentation. In 2014 to facilitate an over crowded schedule running into the afternoon, on what was really just a procedural point, the library submitted to the commission of Mayor Scott by inclusion in the Agenda package.

Submissions for consideration to be on the Agenda of the Long Range Planning meeting begin with  Birmingham City Manager Joe Valentine. Below is the letter from Baldwin library director Doug  Koschik in regards to the library's submission.