Majority of residents to city: Don’t cut libraries
Ninety-five percent of New Yorkers polled want better access to books and internet
BY BILL PARRY
The city’s public library
systems, which currently
make up less than half of 1
percent of the city budget,
are facing up to $16 million
in budget cuts, even as they
ask for required additional
funding to cope with rising
costs, increased demands, and
aging buildings.
The potential cuts loom as
a new poll shows 95 percent
of New Yorkers say a loss
of library service would
impact their communities,
particularly children, seniors,
immigrants and low-income
families and more than
half of library users said a
decline in service would limit
their access to books and
the internet.
Results of the online poll of
1,000 city residents conducted
between March 26 and March 13
by Change Research show that
93 percent of those surveyed
said libraries are cornerstones
in their communities, while 84
percent say libraries deserve
more funding, not less, but
that may happen as the three
library systems face a $16
million decrease in funding
under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
proposed $92.2 billion budget.
Any cuts would likely
result in a decline in hours,
particularly on weekends,
less service and less hiring,
according to Invest in
Libraries, a campaign
launched in 2015 in partnership
with Queens Public Library,
Brooklyn Public Library and
The New York Public Library
and advocates across the
five boroughs.
“The poll reinforces
what we already know to
be true, that our public
libraries are indispensable
to our communities,” said
Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer, chair of the Cultural
Affairs, Libraries, and
International Intergroup
Relations Committee. “That is
why we must fight to increase
funding for our public libraries
and not accept any cuts that
would scale back the essential
The Flushing branch of the Queens Public Library
File photo
services they provide.
Libraries should never be on
the chopping block.”
Especially at a time when
the city is relying on libraries
to do more to support its
own priorities including an
increasingly significant role in
early literacy efforts, support
to immigrants, workforce
development and closing the
digital divide.
Additionally, libraries
continue to be the most active
IDNYC sign-up centers, and
have been identified as key
partners in the city’s efforts to
reach all residents during the
2020 Census.
The survey shows 80
percent of respondents find
libraries welcoming, and 91
percent of respondents find
staff members trustworthy
making libraries string
partners in efforts to reach
“hard to count” communities.
“I have spent a lot of time
talking to a lot of New Yorkers
about libraries over the years.
Even people who don’t use the
library themselves get upset
when they think about their
neighbors not being able to
access a warm, welcoming
library,” said Urban Libraries
Unite Executive Director
Christian Zabriskie. “Where
will the kids go? Where will
the seniors go? These are the
questions they ask, not where
the funding will come from. As
the poll shows, we are a huge
city of small villages, and our
people know that the library
is a welcoming hearth of their
own small communities.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
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