MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After decades open, the Allapattah Branch Library is facing closure.
Last fall, Miami commissioners voted to terminate the rent-free Allapattah lease with Miami-Dade County’s library system in favor of a new affordable-housing complex.
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On Wednesday, students, community members and residents showed out to distribute a petition to save the branch or have a library included in the new development.
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“The library is very crucial to the community. This library is used by many people and it’s been here for a long period of time. To see it go is definitely going to impact the community in a harsh way,” said Fernando Salgado, who’s against the closure. “[We] would like to come to an agreement for the community, to see if we could maintain the same resources in Allapattah. Maybe not maintain the library, but come to a simple agreement where the community is involved.”
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The branch will officially close its doors on Dec. 8 to begin construction.
