New York Public Library Director Paul LeClerc Testifies at NY City Hall Re: NYPL Budget Cuts
Mr. LeClerc spoke in front of the New York City Council Committee on Finance, Committee on Cultural Affairs Libraries and International Intergroup Relations Jointly With the Select Committee on Libraries today (June 4, 2010) at New York City Hall.
I’m Paul LeClerc, the President of The New York Public Library (NYPL), and I’m here to ask you, respectfully but in the strongest terms possible, not to let comprehensive public library services be taken away from the people of New York.
Anyone with his or her eyes open knows and acknowledges that success today depends on information: access to it and the skills to use it.
And it’s been recognized, at least since the time of Jefferson—who said that information is the currency of a democracy—that a more just society is founded on the notion that the people have an inherent right to free access to information.
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My argument this morning is a simple one:
+ that public libraries are more essential to the welfare of New Yorkers than ever before
+ that they are being used in record numbers because the people of the communities you represent know and appreciate how they add immense value to their lives
+ and that investing in public libraries costs the City very little—basically one half of one percent of the overall City budget, really a rounding error in a $60 plus billion dollar budget—but is the smartest investment you could make in terms of the results you get.
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Never has it been more important to keep the City’s libraries open. Libraries serve everyone in every one of the City’s neighborhoods. In many neighborhoods – they are the sole resource for education, information, job searches, homework assistance, literacy instruction, and computer access.
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[Our Emphasis] The proposed $37 million reduction to NYPL’s funding is staggering and will have a direct impact on the communities of this City that depend on the Library the most.
In this testimony, I would like to outline the devastating impact a cut of this magnitude would have on the essential services that the library provides to our City, particularly our youngest citizens. I will also discuss in detail how these cuts will impact Library operations.
+ The magnitude of these cuts to NYPL will deeply impact the reading achievements of children:
Library reading programs help youngsters retain the skills they have already acquired, and markedly improve the reading achievement of children—many of whom lack access to books and other reading materials in their daily lives—better preparing them for school. In fact, in the last twelve months alone our libraries have hosted over 5,364 K-12 classes, providing access to books, computers, librarians and so much more. However, if these cuts are enacted, access to books and to invaluable resources of the Library will be severely reduced.
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Ensuring that these children continue to have access to books, computers, programs and services is essential. A recent study funded by the Gates Foundation found that one-third of Americans now relies on public libraries for computers and Internet access.*** The study - conducted by the University of Washington Information School - further revealed that nearly half of those living below the poverty line depend on library computers. More than 60 percent of young people in those households use these computers for educational purposes. In New York City, one in four people say they have no alternatives to services like those they receive at NYPL. Our libraries change lives.
*** Are these more examples of how we are turning into a country of those who have access to information technology and those who don't. In addition to those two groups you can add two more. Those who have the info literacy to survive in today's world and those who don't. It's one thing to gain access to a computer and a broadband connection put it's something else to be able to search find, select, analyze, and determine the accuracy, currency, and reliability of what is found (if anything). If nothing is found either literally or what is found is questionable (being able to recognize this quickly is another skill) and then being able to go back in and either modify or create a new search strategy.
But, you shouldn’t just take my word for it. Over these past few weeks, the Library has heard from tens of thousands of patrons who depend on NYPL for access to books, job search services, research and much, much more.
Like, Mary O’Hara, who wrote to us to say, “Growing up poor in the Lower East Side, I attended public schools with low resources and don't know what I would have done without the free library books. Now I'm on a full scholarship at a prestigious liberal arts college. I never could have done it without the NYPL. Save the library and you save a future for countless kids!”
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[The following numbers coupled with the statements like the one above say it all.]
The Fiscal Year 2011 proposed cuts would have a dramatic effect on library services:
+ Elimination of 736 full-time equivalent positions [a breakout of the types of positions that lead to the 736 total is not provided]
+ Consideration of the closure of up to 10 neighborhood branches;
+ Public service hours would be decimated at the remaining branches, brought down to an average of four days per week, down from our current six to seven days service;
+ The impact of a cut of this magnitude would be tremendous:
+ 5.7 million fewer items will be circulated (1.7 million to children);
+ 346,000 fewer visits to library programs by young people;
+ 1.8 million fewer visits by children to the Library;
+ 13,200 fewer slots available to attend our career counseling and job classes;
+ 2 million fewer computer sessions, and severely reduced access to seniors, who often use the library in the morning.*** Many of these morning hours will be cut;
+ 1.1 million fewer visits and 1.3 million fewer materials circulated in our Lower Manhattan libraries, where 72% of families earn less than $50,000 per year and 45% of residents do not have a high school diploma or equivalent***;
+ 880,000 fewer visits and 632,000 fewer materials circulated to Central Bronx libraries, where 82% of families earn less than $50,000 per year, 50% lack a high school diploma, and only 33% of residents are native English speakers***;
+ 542,000 fewer visits, 659,000 fewer items circulated, 2,100 fewer programs and 42,000 fewer visits by school age children to library programs in our Staten Island branches.
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While the impact of the recession continues to take its toll across our city, we have seen no slow-down in the record numbers of people using our services.
Even if you don't live in and around NYC (of course the Brooklyn, Queens, and all public libraries in New Jersey also have major budget issues) we believe the NYPL situation is a bellwether for other library systems around the country, particularly the funding bodies whose dollars (your tax dollars) help keep a library going. In other words, if this type of cut can go on at the New York Public Library we think many other governments (large and small) around the country will at least attempt to do some major budget cutting. If they can do it in NYC we can at least give it a try here in (insert city name).
If these funding bodies need more examples to justify an attempt to make cuts they can look at LA Public, Dallas Public, or even the small library system in Oregon we mentioned earlier this week that will CLOSE, shut down, cease to exist (at least for the time being) in less that a month after 98 years of continuous service.
Even if Mr. LeClerc and the other dedicated people at NYPL can get the budget reduction cut in half to $18.5 million, it's much better that $37 million, but it's still a very very large cut.
What are the repercussions for database providers, book/serial vendors, and other library vendors (from shelving to chairs to computer supplies/repair) when major cuts could occur at a library and more specifically at a public library. While NYPL is both a public library and research library what do cuts mean to library organizations like OCLC? Of the 12,000 (give or take) members of OCLC more than 2500 are public libraries.
Would some public libraries leave (save the money for something else), do even less ILL than they already do, go to other sources for MARC records, buy fewer copies of Dewey manuals or web services and the list goes on. It's not a doom and gloom situation since even if every public library left they're still a massive organization but it will be interesting to see how OCLC responds over the long term and what support they can/could/should provide public libraries during dreadful times. It's now very clear, at least to us, why the folks in Dublin have been diversifying in some areas and transitioning out of others.
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