Council gets an earful on library cuts

Now more than ever city residents need help in a failing economy, and libraries are a critical community resource for poor people of all ages, supporters told City Council yesterday.

Staffing cuts earlier this year mean that 53 branches - all except the Central Library - will open five days a week beginning July 1. Most are open six days now.

That has serious consequences, particularly for the children who rely on the library for summer and after-school programs, and for adults, who increasingly need Internet access to find jobs and contact employers, the Coalition to Save the Libraries warned Council members at a rare Saturday budget hearing.

Although Mayor Nutter's proposed fiscal 2010 budget does not call for further cuts to the system, the coalition told Council not only to reject any potential spending cuts but also to find ways to reverse previous cuts.

"It will be a form of murder, because the mind is not being fed," said Carrolyn Morgan, a coalition member.

The Nutter administration sparked a firestorm last year when it announced it needed to close 11 branches because of the city's fiscal condition.

Library supporters successfully sued, saying the mayor lacked the right to unilaterally close branches, but the administration found cost savings by eliminating more than 100 positions and transferring employees to other city jobs.

As a result, libraries have closed without notice when there have been too few staff members. During previous budget hearings, the library's director, Siobhan Reardon, said she would stagger five-day schedules so that communities would have a nearby branch to go to when theirs was closed.

So beginning in July, to stabilize schedules and avoid unforeseen closures, branch libraries will reduce their days of operations. "Our city government is asking us to fight over scraps," said Katrina Clark, a teacher and library supporter. "Free public libraries are essential to establishing a level playing field."

About two dozen sign-carrying supporters - "Books Not Cuts!" - said that some branches had not ordered new periodicals in a year, summer reading programs had been canceled, and adults faced 30-minute limits on Internet use.

Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. expressed support, holding up his library card and announcing: "This library card here, of all the credit cards I have, has the ability to give back."

Representatives of other interests also attended yesterday's hearing, including a resident upset about the trash on city streets and a homeless man protesting recent staff cuts to the shelter system. He said unemployment would lead to crime.

The most extensive testimony came from Catherine Scott, president of AFSCME District Council 47, which represents 4,000 white-collar city workers.

Scott said she wanted the Nutter administration to listen to the money-saving ideas she had offered for "redesigning government," including payments in lieu of taxes for the city's universities, and probation instead of prison for some nonviolent offenders.

Instead, she said, the city has made "Draconian" proposals that would mean furloughs and a freeze on wage increases for her membership for four years.