Libraries again are being asked to take deep cuts in the city budget. It wasn’t enough that they lost 20 percent of their funding last year; now they are being asked to deal with more than a 7.5 percent cut.
That means our libraries go back to four days per week. That means about 25 librarians will have to be laid off. That means that at a time when people need access to computers and help to seek jobs, the libraries will not be open regularly. That means when kids need the security and support for learning that libraries provide, they will not be open.
We are indeed in the middle of a deep economic downturn that we hope is short-lived, but the libraries in this city have been taking it on the chin for too long. The amount of money to make them whole this year is less than $3 million. How can we not find that funding?
Shelly Yanoff, Executive Director
Public Citizens for Children and Youth
Philadelphia Inquirer – June 16, 2010 – Read article online…