The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Public Library are asking for more than $1 billion for all of the general infrastructural repairs that have been neglected by New York City. All three New York Library systems have put together a
damning report outlining what is needed.
More than a century ago, a pioneering partnership was formed between New York City, its libraries, and one of the most generous philanthropists our nation has known, Andrew Carnegie. These partners had a simple yet ambitious dream: to build a library within walking distance of every New Yorker.
Each partner played an important role. Carnegie provided the funding for the buildings; the libraries would be responsible for providing staff and expertise; and the City would pay for the upkeep of the facilities, as well as for books, librarians, and operating costs.
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Yet, despite public libraries’ ever more important role in keeping neighborhoods strong, City funding for libraries has not kept up, particularly for capital needs. As a recent report by the independent Center for an Urban Future (CUF) notes: “New York City’s public libraries are serving more people in more ways than ever before, and have become an increasingly critical part of the city’s human capital system; but they have been undervalued by policymakers.” The report offers a stark assessment of government funding for libraries and concludes that our libraries face a $1.1 billion maintenance crisis caused by a chronic lack of support. Put in context, and spread out over 10 years, this $1.1 billion in need represents a mere 1% of the City’s overall capital budget.
The public libraries around the country are usually given the short end of the stick in terms of funding. Over the last couple of decades they have received less and less. The recent financial crisis just
made things worse.
The onset of the Great Recession devastated tax revenue hauls across the country, causing city and state governments to cut funding to libraries. The most recent Public Libraries Survey from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), published in 2014, found that funding for U.S. public libraries decreased in real dollars by 7.2 percent between 2002 and 2012.
There was not a commensurate drop in demand for library services. There were 20.7 percent more in-person visits to public libraries in 2012 than in 2002, the ILMS survey found; all told, there were 1.5 billion in-person visits to public libraries in fiscal year 2012, or 4.1 million per day.
The public library is arguably a democracy's most essential institution. Any person can come in a get free and uncensored information. Whether you are rich or poor, regardless of your political or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, race, age or gender, the public library serves you.