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Two comments on your recent story about D.C.’s main library (“Read ‘Em and Weep,” 4/18):
1. Kent Cooper’s work was actually done under the auspices of the Urban Design Committee of the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Cooper headed the committee.
2. Your article suggested that D.C. Public Library Director Molly Raphael found our report to be biased in favor of the renovation option. This assumption is unfair and inaccurate. The chapter was asked by the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District to conduct a study solely on the issue of whether the 1972 Mies van der Rohe building could be renovated to solve many of the problems you cited in your article. The chapter was not asked to study options for a new building or to compare the merits of renovation and new construction.
Executive Director
American Institute of Architects