The Iowa City Historical Library should be closed
I was appointed by Gov. Culver to the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) in 2009 and served until 2024 under five 3-year appointments made by 3 different governors.
Once I joined the SHSI Board in 2009, I decided to visit and evaluate all the state historical sites, museums and libraries. It immediately became apparent to me that the Iowa City library should be closed. It is an expensive redundant facility. It creates additional costs, which are in part paid by taxpayer funds and in part by decreased service levels at both historical libraries. Also, almost all states just have one historical library…