Talk of budget cuts has caused much concern about the fate of two branches of New York City Public Library – the one in Chinatown and the one in Lower East Side. According to Marie Coughlin, the director of the Chatham Square Library, and Amy Babcock, the director of the Seward Park Library, although they have not received notice of budget cuts, for these two libraries, which are the among the top five busiest and most used public libraries in the New York, the existing services and resources are already limited. Community needs only increase. If there are budget cuts, the libraries would have to turn away hundreds or thousands of users.

Use of the Chatham Square Library and Seward Park Library has been increasing. Since 2002, the Chatham Square Library has been the third busiest library among the 86 branches that make up the Public Library system. In 2009, 419,941 people used the library and the book checkout rate was 94,104 – the second highest in the New York City Public Library system. In 2005, the Seward Park Library served 223,595 people. By 2009, that number had grown to 366,138 people – the fifth highest in the system – with a borrow rate ranking sixth highest in the system. That same year, Seward Park Library had to cut 286 items from the library services, despite the fact that 2,366 more people joined the library.

For Coughlin, something that has made a strong impression on her is the daily ritual of when the library opens its doors at 8:00 a.m. and many senior citizens wait to enter to read the newspapers and use the computers. Babcock also mentions that many students show up after school to do their homework in the library, read and play games. The library is an important part of their lives.

Both librarians agree that the library doesn't just provide books and DVDs, but many additional services. Every Wednesday morning, the Chatham Square Library offers English-language exchanges, allowing many immigrants to practice English in a safe environment. Every Saturday morning there is a reading class for children. The annual summer reading class has drawn from 500 to 700 students. The Seward Park Library offers math tutoring on Saturday afternoon for about 25 to 35 Stuyvesant High School students. It also has popular ESL classes taught by medical personnel who use the time to also teach about medications.

Twenty branches of the New York City Public Library provide 117 ESL classes, but because of budget cuts, perhaps only nine branches will be able to provide 48 classes.

Already without the budget cuts the libraries are struggling to meet the needs of the Chinese community at these two branches. Coughlin hopes to put more computers in her branch so that users won't have to wait a long time to use them. Babcock hopes to extend the hours for the library.