12 MAY 2, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Keep Queens libraries fully funded
Why is it that every mayor,
regardless of political
persuasion, decides to
take the budget ax to educational
institutions across the city whenever
times get tough?
In unveiling his $92 billion
executive budget last week, Mayor
Bill de Blasio touted nearly $1 billion
in budget tightening, as if that
somehow makes a big diff erence in
such a lucrative amount of spending.
But that budget tightening excluded
additional operating funds sought by
the Queens Public Library and the two
other public library systems serving
the city (Brooklyn and New York).
It’s not as if Queens Public Library
sought to break the bank for the
coming fi scal year. They submitted a
request for an additional $9.7 million
to meet its expenses — which, like any
other business or person living in
New York City, continues to increase
every year.
That $9.7 million is equal to 0.0001%
of the city’s $92 billion budget. For
comparison purposes, that’s equal to
pulling one penny out of a glass jar
containing $100 in coins.
EDITORIAL
And yet, without that paltry sum,
Queens Public Library might be
forced to curtail some of the many
great services it offers to the 2.2
million people that call this borough
home. The library has indicated it
could also slash operating hours, put
a stop to new hires and decrease its
inventory of books, ebooks and DVDs
available to library card holders.
Make no mistake, the Queens
Public Library is more than just a
place to borrow novels or conduct
research for school papers. Each
branch is a community center that
provides activities — mostly free of
any extra cost — designed to educate
and improve lives.
The library may want another $9.7
million from the city, but the return
on that investment is priceless.
That the mayor would want to deny
public libraries additional funding
in the coming year is counteractive
to much of his own philosophy
of government.
De Blasio has made a career of
talking about lift ing up people of all
backgrounds, and opening wide the
doors of city government toward
improving the lives of those who need
the most help. Whether or not you
agree with that philosophy, depriving
extra funding for libraries and other
public institutions seems to be a
sign that de Blasio has forgotten his
own mission.
In that respect, it’s up to the City
Council — which must hammer out
a fi nal budget with the mayor — to
remind the mayor of what needs
to be done.
We encourage all of you to reach out
to your local City Council members
and urge them to take a stand for
our public libraries and keep them
adequately funded in the next
fi scal year.
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ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
MAX PARROTT
BILL PARRY
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