Money Troubles In NYC Libraries

Fri, 04/11/2008 - 09:15 — birdie

On the front of the Metro Section in today's New York Times, this article shows that no place, even here in the Big Apple, is exempt from the current money crunch.

The article describes kids at story hour and seniors at Tai Chi. It goes on to report on a probable budget cut: "Here’s one version of what the end of the boom could look like, among other things: the absence of those 70 or so adults and children crowding the Elmhurst (borough of Queens) library children’s room on Saturday mornings, a locked door greeting the usual crowd. Among Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts for 2009 — necessitated, he says, by Wall Street woes that don’t appear to be going away soon — is a 5 percent reduction in financing for libraries citywide, with an additional 3 percent on the table. The cuts would mean the end of six- and seven-day library service at most libraries around the city, quite possibly Elmhurst among them, says James Van Bramer, the director of government and community affairs for the Queens library system. "