New York officials plan rally to end budget cuts to municipal library systems

As budget negotiations between the New York City Council and the mayor’s office continue, council members and library officials plan to rally Sunday to call for a complete reversal of the $58.3 million budget cuts dollars in the city’s public libraries.

Twin rallies were scheduled to take place Sunday morning at the Flushing branch of the Queens Public Library and the Walt Whitman branch of the Brooklyn Public Library near the Navy Yard. Both library systems, as well as the New York Public Libraries, have had to eliminate Sunday service and would likely have to eliminate weekend service altogether if funding is not fully restored. Staff, programs and other services would also be affected.

“It will mean less staff,” Queens Public Library President Dennis Walcott told Gothamist. “This will result in fewer books and materials. This will result in the possibility of not being able to open libraries under construction. This will result in repairs not being completed as quickly as possible, if at all.

Walcott said three branches of the Queens library system are under construction, with two ready to open. But Walcott added that the branches haven’t been able to open because the library system can’t hire anyone to hire them.

Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who chairs the Council’s Cultural Affairs and Libraries Committee, also noted that the sweltering weather played a role in the planned gatherings.

“Not only will we be in front of an essential location – a library that people turn to for technology services, books, a quiet, safe space – but it will also be a very hot day,” Rivera said.

Libraries make up about a third of the city’s cooling centers, but are closed on Sundays due to budget cuts. And this week, air conditioning outages that officials blamed on deferred maintenance costs led the New York Public Library to close two of its Staten Island branches due to a heat wave. The city planned to open public schools on Sunday to serve as cooling centers.

“In most of our libraries, we’re putting the city at a disadvantage in that we don’t have cooling centers that would be open as a result of these budget cuts, and that’s unfortunately going to continue,” Walcott told Gothamist. “So all of these things add up in terms of what the cuts mean for libraries, but more importantly, what these cuts mean for the general public.

A balanced municipal budget is expected by the end of the month and the next fiscal year begins July 1. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday evening on the status of budget negotiations.

“Right now, I feel like the negotiations are going as well as they could,” Rivera said. “Since we initially released our budget response, we have been very clear that we know the money is there and that libraries should never be on the chopping block. »

But Rivera said she was optimistic that the Council and the mayor’s office would resolve outstanding issues that the Council had been “laser-focused” on in terms of priorities, including libraries, cultural programs, housing and 3-K, an early childhood program for children. 3-year-old children in the city.

“Next week will definitely be intense,” Rivera said, “but I have a good feeling we’re going to get there.”