From DNA Info:
The book might be closing on the Queens Library system.
More than 100 residents and elected officials rallied against a series of "devastating" cuts proposed in the Bloomberg administration’s budget for fiscal year 2013 that would shutter nearly a third of the library's 62 branches and leave the borough with only one branch open on Saturdays, library representatives said.
If the cuts are enacted, the Queens Library stands to lose $26.7 million next fiscal year — about 31 percent less than the budget for fiscal year 2012 and 42 percent less than 2008.
“If this budget comes to pass, the consequences will be devastating across the entire system,” said Joanne King, communication director for the Queens Library system. “Every library in the borough will be affected.”
Representatives for the library said the cuts would bring reductions in library services to unthinkable levels.
Apart from 18 libraries that would close in the borough, 30 other Queens branches would have to close four or five days per week.
No branch in Queens would be open on Sundays, and only one would serve residents on Saturdays, according to library officials.
Right now, all of the branches are open at least five days a week, and 18 of them are also open on Saturday. The central library in Jamaica is open on Sundays, as well.
17 comments:
i believe that the cost of library facilities would decrease if the multicultural services were eliminated . the U.S. libraries should stress the use of the english language.
english as a second language (NO) .english as a first language (YES).
citizens should not be FORCED BY GOVERNMENT to pay for library and public school computer connections to the internet.
The politicians should do their jobs and cut waste, fraud and especially nepotism. Term limits for all,a little sensible decision making on the politicians part and we can afford our libraries, schools, hospitals, police, fire dept.and our military. Too many people with their hands in the pot taking for them and theirs instead of worrying about the "public good".
C'mon folks, an era is passing.
Make available ultra-cheap i-Pads (let's say for about $50 apiece)
to everyone and there's no longer any need for libraries, except as
a place to park your ass.
i.e.
The Encyclopedia Britannica
used to cost hundreds of dollars.
All that info can now be downloaded cheaply and quickly.
Libraries (except the main branches) are becoming as unnecessary as a baby dinosaur in a
pet shop
Remember,
even the determined John Henry lost his battle with the steam drill
Now, police station and firehouse closings are a horse of a different color.
Bah!
These have become immigrant
social centers.
Maybe they should serve tea.
There are almost as many old Chinese men hanging around the Main St. Flushing library as there are in
the local Mc Donalds.
Mickey Dee's posted a 20 minute maximum sitting time notice.
They had to.
Two Asians will nurse 2 small cups of coffee for an hour if allowed.
It's obvious that more senior centers are need instead.
I'll gladly open more senior centers in Flushing.
Anon No. 1:
And I don't want to pay for some of the benefits that you receive.
social security originally was voluntary under F.D.R., (medicare) and S.S. was a mandatory L.B.J government progressive entitlement for senior AMERICANS at age 65.we paid from each payroll check ,that we earned.
it was the democrat administration that switched S.S. from the TRUST FUND to THE GENERAL FUND, so they could SPEND the money .
if all congress begins to work together and reform S.S. ,the younger citizens will benefit also.
vote for G.O.P. U.S. Senators , to get rid of dem. majority and they may pass a budget ,after 1100 days (3.5 years)
What was Ronald McDonald's mom dong at the rally?
*Sigh*
When are people going to realize it's all just kabuki theater? The city imposes drastic cutbacks. The citizens wail and gnash their teeth in horror over the loss. They cry out, sign pre-written petitions, don pre-made t-shirts, and attend pre-scheduled rallies. Then the heroic city councilmen swoop in and restore much if not all of the funding. The citizens hail the councilmen as heroes and pledge to re-elect them.
It's the same story every year, and the uninformed masses fall for it every year. It's your money, people. The politicians are just playing their games with it to manipulate you.
Because of the technological trends, the local cultural environment specific to Queens, and the general lower interest in reading books, its "libraries" are becoming PC lounges and hangouts.
I think all-PC bookless libraries ought to be created alongside PC-less book-filled libraries with the traditional decorum rules enforced. I would think the librarians would be against this sort of experiment because the the only staffing needed in a bookless library is to make sure the PC's and furniture are not stolen. But please, return some libraries back to book readers.
The biggest threat to the libraries is the ditsy librarians who give away any book that is too complicated for them to understand.
When movable type first appeared,
it put a lot of scribes out of business.
That was the kind of progress that resulted in enlightenment of more people.
Now the electronic age has made local libraries obsolete except as hangouts
that drain taxpayer $$$$$$!
Keep the main branches open and transform the local branches into something more useful.
BTW,
what is an average local librarian's salary?
H-m-m-m...
here's a thought that's bound to piss of the 'ol library fiefdom.
It's sort of been agreed that everyone should read
"The Great Books" at one time or another.
Maybe,
posters featuring these in all libraries should be prominently displayed but less shelf space for books.
You can open a free "app" for your PC or tablet to read one of these "Great books" (or whatever) with your QBPL card at the front desk.
Maybe the QBPL issues a really cheap or free "Nook" when you join.
Ladies and gents,
this is the 21st century!
Let's start thinking modern...huh?
Check out the library's capital budget, check out the library's board, and see if you can connect the dots.
How does the Queens library service stack up to the other boros?
Hey, Jimmy how is the new multimillion dollar child's learning center doing? You know, the one with very very little news and very very big bucks?
I have not been by the 1906 Andrew Carnegie Library in Elmhurst. I suppose that by now it has been transformed into a another piece of Queens crap architecture.
Or maybe it will be turned into an auxiliary ER for Elmhurst Hospital,
so as to better serve the area's 3rd world illegal immigrants.
Maybe C.M. Jimmy Van B can get a special GLTG reading room dedicated
somewhere in the QBPL system.
Post a Comment