New York City Budget Proposes Major Cuts to Libraries
The three library systems that serve New York City face major cuts in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposed FY2010 budget (PDF file). Representatives from the libraries testified on the likely effects of the 17% funding reduction at a March 13 city council hearing.
New York Public Library faces a reduction of $23.2 million. The effects of the cut would be exacerbated by a proposed reduction of $3 million, or 14%, in state funding and by expected downturns in private revenues of some $20 million. “It’s not logical to expect that philanthropy is going to be anything like what it was just six or nine months ago,” NYPL President Paul LeClerc testified, according to the March 18 New York Daily News.
NYPL spokesperson Herb Scher told American Libraries the proposal would likely necessitate a 20% reduction in operating hours, from a systemwide average of 52 hours a week to 41 hours. He also anticipated reductions in materials purchases and, in a worst-case scenario, the loss of 465 jobs, many through attrition but 281 through involuntary layoffs.
Brooklyn Public Library would see the loss of $14 million in city funding. Executive Director Dionne Mack-Harvin said management was considering a wide range of scenarios to address the cuts, including the loss of as many as 220 staff positions, which would force the library to significantly reduce public services. Most branches would revert to five-day-a-week service, and spending would be reduced on books, programming, and technology.
In anticipation of eventual cuts, BPL eliminated its Sunday hours at the end of last year, and in March it launched a three-month Support Our Shelves campaign with a goal of raising $300,000 in public donations, spokesperson Malika Granville told AL.
Queens Library Director Thomas W. Galante told the council that the proposed cut of $13.9 million would close every community library all weekend long, with some libraries open less than five days per week. Additionally, the library would have to reduce its workforce by 24% by eliminating 279 positions, 240 of them through layoffs.
Noting that library usage has dramatically increased as a result of the dire economic situation, Galante called this “the worst possible time to scale back our hours and service,” warning that “we’ll be forced to close the doors on millions looking for a hand up and a way out of despair.”
The city council is expected to approve the final budget in June.
Posted on March 27, 2009. Discuss.