Save New York Libraries

Dear Elected Officials of the State of New York:

Part of the City Council and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed financial plan, library funding will be reduced. Case in point, the Queens library system alone will face a $14.4 million reduction of funds. This after previouse cuts in funding last year.

Unfortunately, some libraries are already closed on the weekends, and more will follow. Week day service hours will be drastically reduced and many employees could lose their jobs in this tough economic time.

These proposed cuts will not only cripple the library system but also our communities. This will cut out the many programs the libraries have to offer for example computer classes for beginners, learning how to speak English, teen programs, health programs, story time for babies, and book discussions. The library serves everybody in our community high school students, college students, adults, and our senior citizens.

Without the libraries, we would not gain the knowledge and information that we need empower ourselves with. Further closing the libraries could spark more hangouts among our young people(teens) which can cause an increase in crime.

It will be a shame that librarians who maybe single parents could lose their jobs due to budget cuts that could have been prevented. Food for thought. Thank you for your attention to this matter.