Every year, the government plans to target the Queens's Public Library for budget cuts. In order to maintain the services and resources, on May 18, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, other elected officials and community leaders gathered in front of the library to urge the government to not cut the library's resources. They also encouraged the public to sign petitions.
Yesterday, library director Tom Galante, public relations representative James G.Van Bramer, and City Council Members Tony Avella, Elizabeth Crowley, John Liu, and other elected officials led almost 100 residents on a "Save Our Library" demonstration. According to Galante, the Queens's Public Library has the city's best library system, the highest book check-out rate and is a great resource to its residents. Protesters declared that instead of cuts, the government should increase funding given the value of this resource to Queens residents.
Right now, all the city's public libraries face the pressure of budget cuts and are open the public only five days a week, leaving many residents who make use of the libraries on the weekends with nowhere to go.
Due to the economic downturn, starting in July, the municipal government plans to cut $20 million from the library budget. The cuts will result in the layoff of 300 employees and some services in order to survive. Currently, there are already 8,500 signatures [according to a May 28 statement by Thomas W. Galante, so far there are 80,000 signatures] gathered to protest the cuts. Hopefully many more residents will go online to www.savequeenslibrary.org to express their discontent with the government.
According to other officials, the library has always been the place for residents to borrow books and to find employment. They hope that everyone will stand up and unite in order to protect the library resources. The statistics for 2007 indicate that close to 14 millions persons frequented the Queens Library – the number does not include people who browsed the library websites. Not only is the book check-out rate in Queens Library the highest in New York City, it is also the highest in the nation.
