It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.Library Squeezed in Nutter’s Budget Cuts
Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm - by Stephanie Marudas. Filed under: Education.
Updated: 5:27 pm
Friends of the Free Library will hold a special Community Meeting on the 11 proposed library closures this Saturday, November 8, 10 am - Noon, at the Children’s Story Hour Room inside the Central Branch, 1901 Vine St. (20th and the Ben Franklin Parkway)
Updated: 4:33pm
Library locations listed below are confirmed. The mayor’s office released a list of proposed library branches to be closed and it matches our list.
Original post: 3:16pm
Mayor Michael Nutter’s budget cuts are a blow to the Philadelphia Free Library system. To help fill 
a $100 million spending hole, Nutter is planning to close 11 library branches and end Sunday hours at three regional libraries. Friends of the Free Library director, Amy Dougherty, says the biggest concern is that the cuts appear to be permanent and not temporary. While it’s not official, the word on the street right now is that these 11 branches could get shut down: Durham, Eastwick, Fishtown, Fumo Family, Haddington, Holmesburg, Kingsessing, Logan, Ogontz, Queen Memorial, Wadsworth.
Dougherty says closing libraries means a loss of a safe indoor public space, where community members can meet and do things like take GED courses, surf the web, and browse online job listings. Dougherty points out that some of the libraries proposed for closure are in impoverished areas. Check out this spreadsheet Friends of the Free Library has created. It gives you an economic breakdown of the neighborhoods where the branches are located.
Also concerned about the library closures is Christie Balka of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY). She says losing libraries means losing safe after school places for children. Besides, Balka says 40% of the city’s elementary schools don’t have libraries anymore. So if the local library branch is closed, she wonders how does a kid without any means of transportation get to borrow a free book?
Here’s what you can do if you are concerned about the library cuts. Call your City Council, State and Federal representatives and let them know what you think. If you have questions or concerns, contact Friends of the Free Library, which is the umbrella organization for library volunteers and patrons…(215)567-4562 or send an email to Amy Dougherty at adougherty@libraryfriends.info The Free Library system is also planning to hold community forums in December at the libraries slated to be closed.
November 6th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
We should get used to the fact that under tough economic times the impoverished will always be the first to suffer, and suffer the worst. America has great numbers of illiterate and under educated and this is only set to intensify in the coming years.
November 6th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Well - the e-mail address is provided, and I intend to use it. Surely there must be some other way than to close the libraries, especially in the most impoverished areas, as Andrew mentions here - someone has to speak for them. I see no reason to “get used to the fact” - in “Open Letter to Eve” - “when I see innocent folks shot down, should I just shake my head and frown” — no, we shouldn’t get used to anything. When there is an injustice or something that we’re not happy about, when someone is going to suffer from something being done - we should speak up about it and see if there is some other way. There is an e-mail address and a phone number provided - let’s use it!
November 6th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Thanks to WHYY’s IOC for providing all of this information here
Some thoughts I have on this - if they’re closing these libraries and some of the elementary schools don’t have libraries - can they find or designate an area in the schools and move the books into the schools for the kids - at least the children’s books? Don’t let the children suffer because of funding cuts! Perhaps local houses of worship can get involved or community groups - there has to be some other way even if the libraries cannot remain open. I’ve written about similar issues before. I will not be able to attend the community forum on Vine Street this Saturday (already have a previous commitment), but I hope to write to officials and also to contact the Friends group, and possibly the PCCY group to see if there are other options available for the affected schools. Libraries make a huge difference in the lives of children, and I know how important libraries have been for me and for my children.
November 7th, 2008 at 9:06 am
[...] learn more about the budget crisis in Philadelphia, and how it will affect libraries, visit the WHYY It’s Our City [...]
November 9th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
No libraries should close down. They offer not only free books and movies, but free computer access, weekly events for teens and kids in a safe, educational environment, and daily, one-on-one homework help for Philadelphia’s students. They support school curriculum with research assistance, collaboration with educators, and story times for kids. They ARE freedom of information.
Of the 220 city job layoff, 71 of these are being implemented in the Free Library. How many city departments are there? And why should an actively education-based institution suffer disproportionately? Nutter wants to decrease the high school drop-out rate by 50%. The Free Library is getting a 20% cutback. It doesn’t make sense.
West Philadelphia is taking a huge, huge hit. Of the 11 branches slated to close, 4 of them are in West Philadelphia. That is nearly half of West Philadelphia’s libraries. In comparison, only one of Northeast’s libraries is slated to close. While poverty is Philadelphia-wide, West Philadelphia is disproportionately being targeted.
There need to be cutbacks. But the Free Library, and West Philadelphia communities are bearing the brunt of these cutbacks. The Library Board and the Director need to re-think its impact on West Philadelphia. They need to get input from patrons, communities, and their workers before taking the ax to our city’s libraries.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
The squeaky wheel will get the grease. I see Fishtown library with a real gameplan to keep theirs open- rallies, community meetings, petitions…WHY are certain libraries being shut down? Is it because of usage, is it beacause these are the n’hoods that won’t make a stink about it? Some have got to go and I see why they’d be the ones with low patron turn-out. Who cares what kind of n’hood it’s in. That’s just good business sense. Let’s be real here.
Aside-Good idea to let he schools borrow some of the books!