Description
Recent layoffs have meant that as of February 28, 2011, the total number of hours that the New Haven main library branch opens have been reduced from 185 hours per month to 148. The branches have taken the brunt of the reductions, with monthly hours reduced from 136 to 96 including elimination of Saturday hours.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/branches_make_last_saturday_loans/
The closing of the libraries is a crucial issue of public space and civic vitality in New Haven. Libraries should be active community hubs where neighbors can meet and cement relationships, not abandoned buildings.
Public Libraries are educational agencies that provide materials and services to all members in the community from preschoolers to seniors. The library is accessible to students for study and research when public schools are not open. The library provides the only computer access some public school students have to complete their homework assignments.
Public Libraries help build a strong economy. Our unemployment rate has been at least 12%, and likely to be above 50% among youth in some city neighborhoods. Many employers have transitioned to online employment applications. Public Libraries provide the only access some people have to computer technology and job searches.
Please "vote" here if you believe that the City of New Haven should immediately restore all of the eliminated library hours, either through re-hiring of laid off employees or through other measures.
Information, updates and additional ways to advocate for this issue will be posted here and you will receive them if you request to be notified of updates.
(I have posted this at the request of an elderly New Haven resident who no longer has access to the internet, due to closing of library hours on Saturday in her neighborhood)
36 Comments
Jason Stockmann (Registered User)
Libraries are not only crucial centers of civic, social, and educational life in a democracy, but they deliver a lot of bang for the buck. The return on each resident's modest annual investment in the library system is huge.
The 2011-12 proposed library budget is only $3.4 million out of the city's $475 million budget. This works out to something like $25 per resident. For the annual cost of two visits to the cinema, city residents get unlimited access to books, DVDs, travel guides, music, etc., in addition to important civic information about laws, voting, and other matters.
Libraries also serve as "town halls" where hearings can be held and where clubs can convene meetings. They also serve as beacons and safe harbors for youth, offering access to knowledge and entertainment that they may not find anywhere else, and keeping them out of harm's way.
For these reasons and others, the library budget should be one of the last to go on the chopping block, particularly when hours reductions are being considered. I would urge the city to look elsewhere for savings, including confronting the politically volatile and sacrosanct issue of pensions. The $43.5 millions that the city will spend this year on pensions dwarfs the library budget. The city should negotiate with the unions to help reduce the pension burden on the city 5, 10, and 20 years down the road.
Harry David (Guest)
Almost any proposed reduction in services will raise objections by someone. Some cuts are better than others and it is our responsibility to go beyond just opposing any proposed service reduction with alternative areas for cost reduction. With 80% of the City budget going for Public Safety and Education we have to expect intelligent cuts in these areas. IF these cuts are made intelligently -- such as by reducing unnecessary staffing, non-performing/unnecessary administrators and even non-performing police/fire/education personnel -- we can all benefit by saving such silly reductions in library hours.
However, it is necessary for those who oppose library closings to determine how many people use these services and whether or not such services are really serving the community.
The City proposed precisely these types of cuts so that the public recoils in horror and is more willing to accept bloated budgets and wasteful spending.
But simply opposing any and all cuts proposed is not a viable option. I have seen petitions to oppose the closing of some district's fire station on the grounds that this will reduce response to fires. Considering that the vast majority of calls to the fire department are not for structure fires this is an untenable position and reflects the general attitude of opposition to any meaningful cuts in services
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
For anyone new on SeeClickFix -- To vote, leave a comment in the text box below and click "Post."
Or, at the top right hand side of the page on the gray bar underneath where it says "#86403 Petition to Restore Library Hours in New Haven", click "Vote to Fix."
You can also vote by text message. Text "ISSUE 86403" to 41411.
Carm (Guest)
Carm (Guest)
E (Registered User)
Terry F (Guest)
Terry F., Fair Haven
StarryRose (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
Brarian (Guest)
The total operating expenses- including salaries- of the New Haven Free Public Library account for 1.2% of the New Haven City budget, yet over the past 10 years library staff has been reduced by 75%. In the past it has been easy for the mayor to chip away at the public library as no one notices things that don't affect them personally. This petition is too little, too late. There are not enough librarians left to run the institution- the recent layoffs were 12 part-time non-union workers whom the library, over time, has been forced to rely upon heavily- and it is already in the process of incurring long-term systemic damage from the staff reductions that began long before the economic downturn. The quality of the collection and services of the New Haven Library will continue to degrade unless more librarians are hired or, ironically, one or more branches are closed permanently.
The state of affairs at the library is particularly shameful considering the educational level of many New Haven residents and the world-class, multi-billion dollar endowed educational facility at the center of New Haven, in my opinion.
What??? (Guest)
EW (Guest)
I brought my kids to the neighborhood branch of the library after school and found it dark, locked, and abandoned. As in shut down for half the week and on weekends. I'm finding this deeply disturbing -- it makes me sad and frankly, it scares me.
The library is part of the soul of a neighborhood. When it's standing dark and shut down mid-day, mid-week, it's a monument to the abandonment of our community. It's a sign of a ghost town. Alas we have given up.
The library serves a number of vital practical purposes that others have posted on. But it also represents things to us and to our children. The local branch of the public library embodies the importance of community, the love of reading, the pursuit of knowledge. So when the library is abandoned and left dark and locked half the time we are sending our kids (and ourselves) a message that these things are just not particularly important to us. Community. Reading. Knowledge. Disposable? Frivilous perhaps? Not worth investing our limited funds in.
And Mayor -- it is exactly during these dark times of financial crisis that we need to INCREASE community support and comraderie and help maintain the venues through which that is cultivated. We need to INCREASE the distribution of knowledge and access to information resources. And we need to READ and show our children the world of encouragement, wonder and inspiration that still exists in our literature no matter how challenging the times are.
All our library branches should be open every day and on Saturdays. They are part of the soul of our community and when the lights are on and the doors open, we are still alive despite these trying times.
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
Property taxes contribute $223,000,000 to the City's 2011 budget.
The library budget was recently cut by 5%, or about $200,000. So, it seems that taking away $1 out of every $1,000 that currently goes towards all city programs funded by property taxes would keep the library hours open, if the story at http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/to_save_libraries_alderman_targets_spokesman/ is correct.
I know this isn't completely accurate statement but it gives one a rough idea of the magnitude of the library cuts.
Anonymous (Guest)
think that the new haven public library
should have less hours on a week-end,
because a lot of people would like to go
there especially on a saturday
Takesha Smith (Guest)
From a Hill Youth Actions Team Member
james (Guest)
a lot of books here
Keshon Earl (Guest)
Takesha Smith (Guest)
michael (Guest)
Takesha Smith (Guest)
james (Guest)
I have seen the Wilson Library host the Mothers for Justice, afterschool for youth leaders, gatherings for Latino moms and their babies, children busy with homework, young people getting help on a research paper, VITA groups of adults getting help with taxes, major events led by the Hill Neighborhood Forum and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, or a movie night to watch "Blindside" about racial prejudice hosted by the Hill Youth Action Team - high school leaders in the Hill - over the past 6 years!
WE NEED NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY LIBRARIES! THEY FUNCTION AS FULL SERVICE COMMUNITY CENTERS AND PULL IN FOLKS FROM ALL ACROSS THE ECONOMIC SPECTRUM.
LIBRARIES ARE A PRIORITY IF WE REALLY BELIEVE IN A HEALTHY SMART ECONOMICALLY-THRIVING NEW HAVEN COMMUNITY.
I sincerely hope that the city alders and decision-makers can find a way to increase the hours at the invaluable neighborhood libraries, especially in the Hill - where no other community facilities are open to the public without extra charges (e.g. we must pay custodians to use the school spaces for afterschool activity or any evening meetings).
PLEASE RECONSIDER THE REDUCTION IN LIBRARY HOURS.
Thank you for listening,
D. Stewart
juli (Registered User)
well said, d. stewart!
i completely agree. libraries are immeasurably valuable to a community, and we should definitely come together and fight this.
Lois (Guest)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
There are over 100 signatories at this point on this petition, which is impressive given that there has been little effort to publicize or distribute it (I know that a few folks have shared it or brought it around the library, but there's not a "campaign" to do so that I'm aware of). Surely with more efforts from volunteers, there would be more people signing it.
What are some good next steps to take towards resolving this issue?
Does anyone here want to volunteer to call, email and/or send this to each of the members of the Board of Aldermen, just to make sure that they are aware of it?
juli (Registered User)
Corlis Carroll (Guest)
What about the children who like to go to the library on
their day off from school?
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
mdalton89 (Guest)
Hello SeeClickFixers!
We recently wrote about this issue on our blog. Keep us posted on your progress! You can check it out here! http://seeclickfix.blogspot.com/2011/03/restoring-library-hours-with-just-one.html
Team SeeClickFix
Barbara (Guest)
Tara (Guest)
Guest (Guest)
shelagh (Guest)
Yes, I believe the library should strongly expand their hours. It is not just for learning many people use it for meetings, practice of amendements and to deny that is wrong.Guests speakers can come
and be launched, with new ideas, artists, poets, civili servants, professional and amateur job seekers. Mom look forward to "time out" with childrens hour an
d story time, as well i.e advice. shelagh.brennan@yahoo.com
Dolores Colon (Guest)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
關閉 BB (Registered User)
Hey Mark,
I just saw this in the New Haven Independent: "In good news for bookworms, the amendment included the surprise restoration of $120,000 in library funding. That means neighborhood branches will be able to stay open on weekends"
Source: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/budget-shaping_begins/
"Fixed?"