Kids tell city: Don’t cut funding for libraries!
The children who gathered on the steps of City Hall had a simple message for Mayor Michael Bloomberg: leave our libraries alone! The children took part in a rally organized by Council members Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) and Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) on May 22 to protest library funding cuts proposed in the mayor’s executive budget.
Van Bramer, chairman of the Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations Committee, and Gentile, chairman of the Select Committee on Libraries, led the rally that drew the participation of their council colleagues, Brooklyn Public Library President Linda Johnson, Queens Library CEO Thomas Galante, New York Public Library President Anthony Marx, DC37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, the organization Urban Librarians Unite and dozens of children.
The city’s three public library systems – New York, Brooklyn, and Queens – are facing more than $106 million in proposed cuts. The cuts would force the closure of dozens of libraries and lay off over 1,000 library employees, Van Bramer said.
“New York City’s three renowned library systems have faced a consistent barrage of budget cuts from this Administration for far too long,” Van Braymer said. “Today, we stand together to say, ‘Enough is enough!’ A $106 million cut would not only eradicate thousands of jobs for hardworking New Yorkers but also decimate library service hours which millions have taken advantage of to learn English, acquire job skills and gain educational opportunities in an effort to make them even more productive citizens of our great city,” he said.