New York budget cuts force public libraries to close on Sundays and reduce services

New York City’s public libraries are being forced to close Sunday services after Mayor Eric Adams announced multibillion-dollar budget cuts on Nov. 16, cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from schools and libraries.

“The Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library, and New York Public Library regret to announce that due to mid-year budget cuts, we must eliminate seven days a week service in citywide, including ending Sunday service at the vast majority of branches. who currently offer it,” library leaders told local media. .

Budget cuts are also expected to impact the ability of public libraries to purchase new materials, organize new programs, and continue building maintenance and repairs. Mr. Adams said the city was making budget cuts in response to the growing costs of the migrant crisis.

“Hello, I am a librarian. Here’s why it’s really, really bad,” Rachel Finston, librarian. said on social media. “This will not only create inaccessibility, it will also slow everything down. »

Finston explains that closing libraries, even on one day of the week, not only impacts New Yorkers’ ability to access materials, but also staff’s ability to process books. Additionally, budget cuts will likely also impact libraries’ weekend programming, which could result in canceled events.

“Librarians, especially public librarians, will pay the price. » I saw Finston. “This is undermining some of our best public servants.”

Over the past year, libraries across the country have faced an unprecedented wave of attacks, including book bans, illegal firings, conservative smear campaigns, police investigations into LGBTQ books, disinvestment and far-right violence, placing librarians on the front lines. authoritarian attacks on democracy.

“Libraries are crucial social infrastructure,” wrote librarian Jaime Taylor for Truth in 2022. (Libraries) are a place for circulation of public goods such as books and films, but also tax forms, overdose prevention drugs like Narcan and COVID tests… (and) produce a space for the public where everyone can use the bathroom, take some time on the computer, sit down, stay warm in the cold and cool in the heat.

Research shows that New Yorkers believe libraries have a significant positive impact, are essential to supporting the city’s progressive initiatives, and need increased support. A survey found that 95 percent of respondents believe their communities and New York City would be harmed if the city enacted budget cuts that would result in fewer hours of operation, particularly on weekends. Sixty-five percent of library patrons would have limited access to books and the Internet, and 73 percent of respondents said children and teens in their community would have few or no alternative free after-school programs.

“And like all social infrastructure, libraries are under attack from an organized right who know well that the best way to destroy public institutions is to relentlessly attack them until they become unusable, leading to their abandonment by all but those who have no other choice. “, Taylor wrote.

Additionally, unhoused people rely on public libraries for resources and shelter, and they will be disproportionately affected by limiting library services. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, homelessness in New York has reached its highest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s. As of September 2023, there were more than 87,907 unhoused people – including 31,510 homeless children. shelter – in the city. New York City’s public libraries are much-needed spaces where unhoused residents can cool off, use the restroom, read a book, or simply come inside to warm up.

“I saw people taking advantage of computer classes and financial education,” said Shams DaBaron, an activist who has worked with the mayor on housing proposals. City limits. “If you’re homeless, you don’t have access to a computer, you don’t have access to Wi-Fi for the most part. And that’s where it becomes kind of a very vital resource for us.”

On November 17, community leaders and elected officials protested outside City Hall against the Adams administration’s citywide budget cuts. “When New York is attacked. What are we doing? Stand up and fight back,” the protesters chanted.

“The administration’s approach of reducing the budgets of all agencies in general through additional cuts and a hiring freeze, as well as imposing cuts to our libraries, CUNY and cultural institutions , is too blunt and is not a prudent or unique choice,” said Justin, chairman of the municipal finance council. Brannan, President Adrienne Adams wrote in a joint statement.