Brooklyn Public Library: More of a Business Than an Accessible Public Institution?

Last year Brooklyn Public Library had its city and state funding cut by about 2 percent; closed all branches on Sunday and thus stopped paying unionized employees time and a half-and subsequently saved money on the lights too; froze any new hiring; and decreased new book purchasing and replacement.

This year Brooklyn Public Library closed near half of its branches on Saturday too, citing library revenue was down for the year.

This year and last year, both the library Executive Director and a library spokesperson said doing such things preserved jobs. Which begs the questions: Is Brooklyn Public Library more of a business than an accessible public institution? Should the public institution that is the Brooklyn Public Library operate on the basis of its financial books or the books on its shelves?

Joe Anuta, Unhappy Ending at Library as Branches are Slashed on Weekends, The Brooklyn Paper, http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/39/all_librarycuts_2010_09_24_bk.html

Ben Muessig, Never On Sunday! Public Library Eliminates Service, The Brooklyn Paper http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/1/32_1_bm_bpl_cuts.html