While Denver’s City Council considers whether to fund the city’s 27th library branch, it must weigh not only its finances in a pandemic but also whether that library would reach traditionally disadvantaged north Denver neighborhoods or just their well-heeled neighbors to the south.
The new branch would be at 1930 35th Street — in a city-owned building — in the River North Art District, which officials hope will bring in residents from the Globeville, Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods, as well as people from across the city who might want to use things like 3-D printers and sound studios.
But neighborhood organizers question whether the branch would be anything more than a new extravagance, considering it won’t actually be in Globeville, Elyria or Swansea — and residents of those neighborhoods would have to cross railroad tracks to walk to the proposed library.
“Places…