All Public Libraries In Philadelphia Will Close On October 2nd

Budget Issues To Blame (note, this link is to the official library website)

Quote :

All Free Library of Philadelphia Customers,

We deeply regret to inform you that without the necessary budgetary legislation by the State Legislature in Harrisburg, the City of Philadelphia will not have the funds to operate our neighborhood branch libraries, regional libraries, or the Parkway Central Library after October 2, 2009.

Here is a story covering the Philadelphia budget crisis. It appears the problem has to do with the city putting the pension fund into the stock market...

Quote :

Anticipating yet another week of uncertainty in Harrisburg, Mayor Nutter yesterday held a two-hour open meeting with more than 30 top city officials who outlined the impact, department by department, of a contingency budget that the administration continues to work on.

That budget, known as Plan C, would reduce spending by that same $700 million over the next five years by, among other measures, closing every library and recreation center and eliminating 3,000 city jobs, including nearly 1,000 in the Police Department.

There was disagreement at the meeting over whether the actions would be temporary or permanent.

Well I hope that some parts of it aren't permanent because I can't think of any major metro area that doesn't have a public library system.

I don't know what I find more tragic about this, the fact that a whole city got reamed in the stock market crash, or that they try to compensate by closing their complete library system down. Wasn't there anything else they could have cut in order to save money? No libraries, no recreation, and less law enforcement - sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Quote :

Mayor Nutter

Coincidence or prophetic?

I'm.... I.... I don't even...

Dude... as much as I complain about the local libraries' complete horridness, at least we HAVE libraries.

Poor Phillies. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I'm completely shocked. I didn't know anybody in Philly could read.

I didn't think it was possible for Philly to become a bigger shithole, but well, here we are.

...Oh damn Knorg beat me to it.

I doubt it'd be permanent. Whenever there's the possibility of a budget delay at the state or federal level -- which is pretty much every year -- you get these stories about government services being cut. In the worst cases, when the impasse makes it to the deadline, the offices do close for a few days, while the legislators are forced into all-night sessions. [Afterward, expect dueling press conferences in which each side takes credit for reopening government offices while blaming the opposition for their closure in the first place.] Just a few months ago, Mayor Bloomberg was threatening to lay off thousands of teachers if he didn't get enough money from further up the food chain.

Resident Pennsylvanian reporting in. This whole budget thing is a complete nightmare and it's raping EVERYTHING. State workers had been getting partial or no paychecks but were still expected to come in and work anyway for about six weeks, when they made a partial budget so they wouldn't be held for ransom anymore. Universities aren't able to get funds for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, so a lot of kids have to do without financial aid. You can guess how well that's gone over.

That's just a couple things that are going down.

Spotts wrote:

I can't think of any major metro area that doesn't have a public library system.

Well, there's this one shithole in Pennsylvania...

UNLIKE THE GLORIOUS PARADISE THAT IS PITTSBURGH! WHERE MILK AND HONEY FLOW LIKE THE BLOOD OF THEIR ENEMIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem...

Buggy wrote:

Universities aren't able to get funds for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, so a lot of kids have to do without financial aid. You can guess how well that's gone over.

Welcome to the rest of the country. Our retard president (WKU's) keeps ticking up the price on everything due to "budget woes" but won't turn off the fucking pointless fountain that wastes God only knows how much power to shoot water into the air. Nor will he invest some money into a heating system that WON'T heat building when it's 70 degrees outside or cool them when it's 50 degrees outside.

Got news for you: This is happening nationwide, although it's not on as big a scale as what Philladelphia did.
Recently there was a big stink in Fort Worth because they chose to shut down some of the libraries there. They shut three of them down; a twelve-year-old mounted a campaign to save them, but they still closed them anyway.
Knowledge is what is needed most right now, and sadly, that's what's becoming first on the chopping block. It's going to be a vicious spiral if it continues.
Considering that many out of work people use the public libaries to look for work online, this is definitely not a good sign.

quamp wrote:

Got news for you: This is happening nationwide, although it's not on as big a scale as what Philladelphia did.
Recently there was a big stink in Fort Worth because they chose to shut down some of the libraries there. They shut three of them down; a twelve-year-old mounted a campaign to save them, but they still closed them anyway.
Knowledge is what is needed most right now, and sadly, that's what's becoming first on the chopping block. It's going to be a vicious spiral if it continues.
Considering that many out of work people use the public libaries to look for work online, this is definitely not a good sign.

Shutting down and consolidating libraries to save money, I get somewhat, even if it's a bit inconvenient for people. That does happen everywhere (here in town, as well) and, while hardly positive, wouldn't be worth a large hullaballoo. Shutting down the whole fucking library system all over the city? A bit larger in scope, wouldn't you say?

Wait, so just to be completely clear on this, they shut down every public library in Philadelphia?

I... just...

ZoZo wrote:

Wait, so just to be completely clear on this, they shut down every public library in Philadelphia?

I... just...

Seconded. I read the notice three times, and I'm like, "What? They can't . . . what?"

Just when I think things can't get any worse, the town fathers in Philly prove me wrong.

Unless a miracle happens, Philadelphia is facing the unpleasant possibility of turning into Detroit East.

EileenK98 wrote:

ZoZo wrote:

Wait, so just to be completely clear on this, they shut down every public library in Philadelphia?

I... just...

Seconded. I read the notice three times, and I'm like, "What? They can't . . . what?"

Won't somebody think of the LIBRARIANS!

Saleha wrote:

I don't know what I find more tragic about this, the fact that a whole city got reamed in the stock market crash, or that they try to compensate by closing their complete library system down. Wasn't there anything else they could have cut in order to save money? No libraries, no recreation, and less law enforcement - sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Quote :

Mayor Nutter

Coincidence or prophetic?

Prophetic, I say.

Hmm. I'd like to say this looks like a temporary setback, but it doesn't. Think about it- once the libraries get shut down, the carrying costs for them will drop to near nil; no water, no power, no employees, no nothing. All that money is going to try and plug the open wound in the state budget. The budget will very quickly get used to having that money available, and any attempt to divert it back to the libraries will be met with stiff bureaucratic resistance from whoever's budget would be cut.

At least the real estate market is depressed, so selling the buildings may not be worth it. Thank heaven for small favors, eh?

I have never loved the state I live in so much. Not only do I love the damn library that it right around the corner from me, I love the idea of a library.

Also, though this is not their purpose, it gets really cold in Maryland during the winter, and the libraries are the safest and warmest places some of the homeless people can take shelter in. The actual shelters are so overcrowded, its ridiculous.

Holy shit. D:
Wow I don't know what to say man.



... Why libraries?

Verandering wrote:

Holy shit. D:
Wow I don't know what to say man.



... Why libraries?

Because they're not seen as vital to the well being of the city. You can't shut down the schools or hospitals or fire-department etc, because without those all would go to hell. So, libraries are seen as expendable.

I don't know what I'd do without a library, I used to spend all my free periods in one.

Out of curiosity, what will happen to the books?

The sad thing is, the very first library in the United States opened in Philadelphia.

Mafiosa wrote:

Out of curiosity, what will happen to the books?

If this place is any indication, they'll sell them off to the public for cheapo. Extra money for them, no need to hoard books in storage somewhere. Here, at library sales, you get a pound of books for 50c. This being closer to the coast, they'll probably be more expensive, but still a steal overall.

This sucks. Completely. There are far less useful things that could be cut than libraries, like the salaries of the idiots who invested everything in the stock market instead of diversifying, which anyone with half a brain cell can tell you is a Very Bad Idea, since if you invest in only one thing and it falls apart, you're up shit creek without a paddle, while if you diversify, you're unlikely to lose everything.

Other things that could be cut--administrators' salaries, new office furniture, and city vehicles used for things other than mass transit and maintenance.

Stupid, anti-intellectual motherfuckers. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]