In exciting news for our three public library systems, New York City’s FY16 budget includes an additional $39M in funding
for library services. This significant increase will keep branch
library doors open 6 days a week throughout the boroughs and will bring
500 new jobs. The de Blasio administration has also committed to a
ten-year $300 million capital improvement budget for our libraries, a
sorely needed commitment given the steady deterioration of our libraries’ infrastructure.
The city’s FY16 budget was announced late on Monday evening by Mayor
Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. The
budget also includes a major increase in funding for the NYPD, the parks department, and the city’s public schools.
This historic increase in funding comes after a multi-faceted
advocacy campaign set forth by New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public
Library, and Queens Library. The three systems teamed up on investinlibraries.org, which includes a white paper detailing their infrastructure issues. The libraries also promoted the hashtag #investinlibraries,
held rallies around the city, created a letter-writing campaign, and
gathered testimonials by the likes of Judy Blume, Junot Diaz, and Tom
Wolfe.
Meanwhile, Urban Librarians Unite staged a 24-hour read-in on June 11 at City Hall. In his interview with Library Journal,
city council majority leader Jimmy Van Bramer called the read-in “a
steady drumbeat” that “made a compelling case that, in a city that sees
growing income disparities and has too many people falling into poverty,
unemployed, struggling, that public libraries are the first line of
defense in the war against inequality and library workers are really at
the front line.”
Read on metro.org
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Why Libraries Are Effective Instruments for Social Change | Urban Librarians Unite
We have been advocating for libraries for years and it always comes up in conversation that libraries are “book warehouses” or that we are outdated in the time of Google and ebooks. This could not be further from the truth. Here at Urban Librarians Unite we apply a lot of Library Science to the work we do. These are how we see libraries DIRECTLY addressing some of the most pressing issues in New York City every single day.
Services to Older Adults
New York City’s libraries offer many special programs and events tailored to the 50+ audience. These include lectures, films, performances and educational programs that reflect the wide interests of today’s older adults. Library outreach staff regularly visit nursing homes, senior centers, and adult care centers to run programs and loan books and other library materials.
New York City’s libraries offer many special programs and events tailored to the 50+ audience. These include lectures, films, performances and educational programs that reflect the wide interests of today’s older adults. Library outreach staff regularly visit nursing homes, senior centers, and adult care centers to run programs and loan books and other library materials.
ESOL/Citizens/New Americans
New York’s branch libraries provide a wide array of services for immigrants and are perhaps the most trusted government institution by foreign-born New Yorkers. Libraries offer English training for those who are not native speakers, preparation for the U.S. citizenship test and computer literacy classes. The libraries partner with immigrant and community groups to put on a wide variety of events and classes, from financial literacy seminars to courses on parenting, health and immigrant and tenant rights. In Queens, the library’s New Americans Program (NAP) organizes nearly 80 cultural programs each year. These programs include festivals, dance shows, music events, performances and much more. We have been advocating for libraries for years and it always comes up in conversation that libraries are “book warehouses” or that we are outdated in the time of Google and ebooks. This could not be further from the truth. Here at Urban Librarians Unite we apply a lot of Library Science to the work we do. These are how we see libraries DIRECTLY addressing some of the most pressing issues in New York City every single day.
Services to Older Adults
New York City’s libraries offer many special programs and events tailored to the 50+ audience. These include lectures, films, performances and educational programs that reflect the wide interests of today’s older adults. Library outreach staff regularly visit nursing homes, senior centers, and adult care centers to run programs and loan books and other library materials.
New York City’s libraries offer many special programs and events tailored to the 50+ audience. These include lectures, films, performances and educational programs that reflect the wide interests of today’s older adults. Library outreach staff regularly visit nursing homes, senior centers, and adult care centers to run programs and loan books and other library materials.
ESOL/Citizens/New Americans
New York’s branch libraries provide a wide array of services for immigrants and are perhaps the most trusted government institution by foreign-born New Yorkers. Libraries offer English training for those who are not native speakers, preparation for the U.S. citizenship test and computer literacy classes. The libraries partner with immigrant and community groups to put on a wide variety of events and classes, from financial literacy seminars to courses on parenting, health and immigrant and tenant rights. In Queens, the library’s New Americans Program (NAP) organizes nearly 80 cultural programs each year. These programs include festivals, dance shows, music events, performances and much more. Read more...
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
New York City Public Library Branches Need $1.1 Billion in Repairs: Report - WSJ
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| A patron upstairs at Brooklyn Public Library's 111-year-old Pacific branch in Boerum Hill; 'The current condition of New York City's libraries greatly impedes our ability to fully support the incredible talent, creativity and potential of New Yorkers,' said library President Linda Johnson |
. John Taggart for The Wall Street Journal
New York's public library branches need $1.1 billion to fix leaky roofs, broken air-conditioning systems and a host of other problems, according to a report released Monday by the Center for an Urban Future, a New York-based think tank.
The report argues that the city has a "broken funding system" in which libraries rely too much on discretionary funds from City Council members. It calls on Mayor Bill de Blasio to create a citywide capital plan for libraries and to double capital spending on libraries over the next 10 years.
"Mayor de Blasio recognizes the important role that libraries play in providing critical services to New Yorkers, which is why this administration is taking a new approach to invest in and partner with and support libraries," said a spokeswoman for the mayor. Read more...
Monday, August 20, 2012
Tel Aviv’s Main Library Needs a Facelift—and More Staff and a Bigger Budget – Tablet Magazine
Tel Aviv’s Main Library Needs a Facelift—and More Staff and a Bigger Budget – Tablet Magazine
Israel’s main library remains underfunded and short on staff, even as neighboring cultural institutions thrive
The main hall of Shaar Zion Beit Ariela, Tel Aviv’s main public library, has only one computer for searching the catalog. The help desk is often unstaffed. Books are sloppily strewn in precarious stacks atop other books. Six stone-age copy machines in the basement accept exact change only, and the library’s two auditoriums are old-fashioned and dilapidated. On Tuesdays, the library closes its lending services so that overworked staff can reshelve books.
Housed since 1977 in a boxy gray building spanning 10,000 square meters, the library holds nearly half a million books, photographs, archive videos, newspaper clippings, and audio music files catering to old and young residents who use it for research and leisure. It is located on prime Tel Aviv real estate, in the same plaza as the recently revamped Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Tel Aviv opera house, and the renovated Cameri Theater, all bastions of Israel’s performing arts, partly funded by the municipality. Unlike its neighbors, which have been awarded fresh modern makeovers in recent years, the library is currently not slated for any renovation. It maintains its 1970s Brutalist architectural design of concrete slabs and a paucity of windows, which may protect books from direct Mediterranean sunlight but does nothing to elevate the culture contained within. [Read the whole article.]
Israel’s main library remains underfunded and short on staff, even as neighboring cultural institutions thrive
 | ||
| Shaar Zion Public Library Beit Ariela in Tel Aviv. (Courtesy of the author) |
The main hall of Shaar Zion Beit Ariela, Tel Aviv’s main public library, has only one computer for searching the catalog. The help desk is often unstaffed. Books are sloppily strewn in precarious stacks atop other books. Six stone-age copy machines in the basement accept exact change only, and the library’s two auditoriums are old-fashioned and dilapidated. On Tuesdays, the library closes its lending services so that overworked staff can reshelve books.
Housed since 1977 in a boxy gray building spanning 10,000 square meters, the library holds nearly half a million books, photographs, archive videos, newspaper clippings, and audio music files catering to old and young residents who use it for research and leisure. It is located on prime Tel Aviv real estate, in the same plaza as the recently revamped Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Tel Aviv opera house, and the renovated Cameri Theater, all bastions of Israel’s performing arts, partly funded by the municipality. Unlike its neighbors, which have been awarded fresh modern makeovers in recent years, the library is currently not slated for any renovation. It maintains its 1970s Brutalist architectural design of concrete slabs and a paucity of windows, which may protect books from direct Mediterranean sunlight but does nothing to elevate the culture contained within. [Read the whole article.]
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