The city of Philadelphia is actually powered by Ben Franklin spinning in his grave.

In many places, the public library is the only place where you can get internet access away from home. There are no internet cafes in most small or medium US cities, and they aren't common anywhere in this country, AFAIK. Wifi doesn't help you if you don't have a computer.

And this isn't even just a rich/poor thing. If you're traveling, and you don't have a computer with you, and you need to get online, the library may be your only option.

While it is more common than not that academic libraries will let unaffiliated people in, it is uncommon for them to allow them to access the Internet there.

You're living testament to being lucky enough to live in a city with a permissive university library. Not everyone is so fortunate.

And there are many that won't even let someone in who isn't a student or employee of the school.

Regardless, an academic library has a completely different mission from a public library. The closest things to public libraries that aren't public libraries are K-12 libraries and community colleges. (And chances are you can get into the latter without being a student...they may even use the same card as your county library). But even the community college library isn't going to have strong current fiction or children's sections.

Libraries are not interchangeable.

The idea of selling the Tucson Zoo has come up to pay for a ballot proposition for hiring more (not seriously needed) police officers and firefighters.

The ballot proposition has no funding source attached. Some of the local Democrats figure it's the Republicans trying to force the Democrats to raise taxes, without having it be associated with the Republicans.

Wow, 3%? Who'd have thought it would be that much?

a few years old, but shows how messed up the sate is:
[www.cagw.org]

Once the Latino Commision, African American Commisions, Asian American Commision, Weed and Seed Program, Agricultural Conservation Easement Admin, Transition to Organic Farming, Forest Pest Managment (REALLY!?!?!) and tons others are cut, then I'll be we'll have loads of money left over for libraries.

If there are real budget problems, I applaud them for being willing to make a tough choice. When times are tough, you have to focus on the TRUE essentials: Law enforcement, fire, health, education. Libraries, parks, museums etc. should be cut before any of the others are.

@johnfrombrooklyn: FLP is in the process of digitizing items from the rare books and map collections, actually, to allow items to be viewed online by everyone (and not just Philadelphia residents, either). These digitization projects are generally grant-funded.

It's my understanding that the vast majority of the rare items in the collection are gifts, not something purchased with taxpayer money. FLP also has a dedicated department of rare books librarians and conservators who are well-equipped to preserve these items.

That said, though it would be terrible to lose items from the collections, I'd rather lose them than lose my job, or my colleagues' jobs.

I'm a PA librarian.

BTW, Temple is $10/yr, alums only, and they don't inter library loan, and unless you're on main campus, the "library" is a tiny room of crap from the 70s.

If there is no Montgomery Country Library close to you, call around to find another library that takes Philadelphia cards. If your card has the blue Access PA rectangular sticker, you can use your card anywhere in PA. Alternately, anyone living in Pennsylvania can obtain a card from Montgomery County-Norristown Main Branch library to use anywhere in PA.

Direct all questions to [www.mclinc.org]

The city seems to want people to hate it. It's working!

But for learning about history, and sourcing historical data. Libraries are INVALUABLE.

They're also good for auto-repair reference materials.

@harvey_birdman: Sorry. Im curious, where did the "This." meme come from??

@vladthepaler:

The "library system"? What are you talking about--it's simply a part of the city's budget, not an interest group or a separate entity.

Bingo. Libraries are more important during these tough financial times than ever. Closing them down is killing a vital part of the community.

In fact, without Wikipedia, the internet would really be kind of crap for learning about anything; there's always this awful feeling that anything you're reading is hearsay, and it's all organized so poorly that unless you know where to look, you're probably not going to find the really good information. Keyword search... kind of sucks, honestly. Until the semantic web gets its act together, the internet is really going to be best for networking, news, and... something else that starts with n.

@Al Swearengen: "Without telling anyone"? Huh, missed the news broadcasts the week before did you??

I certainly understand the need to keep our libraries running, though. It's as important as maintaining heritage sites - you can't simply stop funding it.

Whatever good publicity they get by hosting the conference is more than outweighed by the economic drag of shutting the city down for several days and the spectacle of cops attacking people who dare protest people like Geithner, Summers, and Rubin selling our country to Wall Street and China.

I had no idea Sarah Palin frequented Consumerist. We are in the presence of greatness.

@FooSchnickens: Who uses libraries anyway? That's what the internet is for/

A generous donation from The Irony Fund.

@vastrightwing: They give 51% of the people what the want. The remaining 49% can go screw.

Then where is all that money going?

Besides, the "rubber rooms" are merely one out of countless other ways in which tax money is wasted in profligate fashion. That it will take a while to stop that one form of waste, in no way excuses the millions of other examples of waste. It is NOT a legitimate excuse for not putting an end to these practices ... ALL of them, everywhere.

@oldgraygeek: ^THIS.

Sorry I couldn't find a picture of the inside.
What can we do to help this? That's the question. Calling and writing legislators doesn't seem to do any good. I wish I could think of something to help the libraries, even though I don't live in PA.

@treimel: Library budgets are tight; it's tough to scrape anything together for an advertising budget to get the word out that there is a whole lot more available to patrons than books on shelves.
We have databases you can't afford at home that you can use for free (geneologists love us), we have e-books you can download, we have all sorts of media (movies, music, etc), we have computers all over the place (and, if you bring your own, we have free wi-fi too), we have a reading room for the quiet shuffling of newspaper and magazines, we have a teen section for a less quiet atmosphere (several game tables help keep it a place of buzzz and not shhhh), we have a regular old adult section where you'll find books and many well-lit and quiet corners in which to read or study, and we have a children's section all on its own floor with only one door in and out so you can let those kids loose to play (and maybe even read) without bugging all those adults and teens.
All of this, plus constant community-supported events - like Senior Wii Sports Night and famous author talks. How could anyone not want to go to the library?

Many people also vote with the feet, over the course of time when a tax payer feels he's/she's being abused they move to a lower taxed area if possible.

Now you start to have the problems that Detroit is having, too many people who rely on government entitlement programs and not enough people actually working and paying taxes to fund those programs.

That's the nasty reality about cities and towns that treat their citizens like ATM machines, eventually those that actually pay leave...

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money "

Margaret Thatcher

@outlulz:

Well, you know one now--I'd be lost without my local library. To replicate what I've used from the local library would have cost tens of thousands of dollars.

I suspect your friends aren't big readers.

@aftercancer: You know what I love the most about libraries? The online catalog. I've made it a hobby to request new and interesting books. I know that the library may not always fulfill the request, and I don't request the books because I'm too cheap to buy them, but I like diversifying my library system.

I think it's because of this (not my actions in particular, but the efforts of many to diversify), my county library system offers trade paperback compilations of comic books.

[www.pittsburghlive.com]

In my mind, this is NOT ideal but better than closing branches that local citizens depend on (espec. people without cars).

Libraries are much more than books these days -- they provide classes, seminars, help with taxes and immigration forms, computer instruction and network access, and all kinds of multimedia resources. Plus, I rarely ever buy books; just put a hold on anything I want at the RI public library network web site, and pick it up at my local branch when it comes in. ¡Viva la biblioteca!

@supercereal: @SpruceStreetPhil: For Penn, you just need to have a valid state ID or passport to enter the library. You may be restricted in the hours you can enter without a student ID (not past 7 PM or something similar in the evening). They will take a photo of your ID and let you enter.

This is useful for students who don't have their student ID on them, also.

Most of the computers there are free access, and you'd only need a network log on for specific functions, not for general internet browsing, word processing, etc.

It's not the most fun set of libraries, but you can find some good adult fiction, newspapers/magazines, tons of classics, and all the biomedical journals you could ever want.

You may want to stop by one, if they're open that is.

@sir_eccles: While your points are very valid, a librarian I once worked with explained it to me this way: Libraries are the first to get cut because sometimes people don't realize how valuable they are, and sometimes they get cut because having food to eat (public school lunch programs, child resource services, etc.) is more important than having books to read.

Basically, sometimes it's down to cutting where you can, and sacrificing where you can.

I didn't grow up poor, but we did struggle for a while. The library was an endless resource for me. Without it, I would have never read so many books. I think for a lot of people, the library is a second home. It's important to preserve this, but I also understand how in some cases, when it's reading a book or having dinner, dinner wins.

Damn, and this is where i was going to study for the Bar next summer. Hopefully they will fix their budgetary problems by May 2010.

Actually, the Carnegie family left a HUGE endowment. It's how Pittsburgh was (and is) able to maintain its complex of museums. I don't know how much the libraries benefit from the endowment, but the huge complex of museums are privately funded through that endowment and through donations, and are not tax payer supported.

@outlulz: I know a lot of people who don't go to libraries, but that's because they're not big readers. I practically grew up at the library. When I was a kid, I'd check out entire shelves of books. Now that I'm an adult, and the books are longer, I only end up with 8 or so each trip.

@Walrii: I live in Pittsburgh, so far no word of our libraries closing. Perhaps after the bill for the G20 comes in.

The odd thing is, that Free Library branch just got an upgrade to a nice new building a couple of years ago. Perhaps the money was there, and it was just being managed improperly?

Love,
A Displaced Pittsburger.

Maybe they should start there.

@outlulz: I'm at the library a minimum of once/week. I am a college student, but I'm not there for that. My kids love the story time there. I pick up books that I think aren't worth buying. When we're there usually at least half the computers are in use and there are many people scattered throughout the library. Maybe you just need to read a bit more.

even at age 11, unless you LIKE reading non fiction, a university's stacks are going to be mighty boring

@sponica:

Yeah, no kidding haha! You are paying for it, so you might as well use it! Besides, my library often has some really unique titles availible that I can't get at the local Family Video.

That's a big difference my friend.

@SpruceStreetPhil: Not if you are a young kid. Sure, I was reading adult publications by age 11 easily, but as a 4-5 year old who was learning to read, a university library would not have been suitable at all!

In the 1960's, we had a riddle:
"Why does everybody in Linwood have a station wagon?"
"If anyone in your family gets real sick, you lay them out in the back and drive them to a real hospital in Philadelphia."

The real punch line:
Twenty years later, my mother got really sick, and the local hospital let her lay in bed for a few days while they figured out... that they were stumped. Then they transferred her up to U. Penn by ambulance, where she died that night.

Funny, no?
No...

I still consider the fact that the Central Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library is right across the circle from my job to be one of its primary fringe benefits, and have for 22 years. I go to B&N with my netbook, browse for books I want to read, and use the free wifi to log into my Free Library account and reserve the book. A few days later I get an email that I can come pick it up, and I can also renew it online. The Library is indispensable, and if they close I will be seriously bummed out until they reopen. I would happily pay an annual membership fee (in addition to the punitive wage tax I pay, even though I don't live in the city) but it's not an option.

He's suing for them doing that - even though from his other lawsuits he basically was offended by anyone else, so he gets his wish and it's hurting his feelings....

In Austin, two upper level managers, both making six figures, couldn't work together for SIX years, with countless complaints, yet they kept getting performance raises - the county spent 50k plus on mediation to get them to resolve their differences, and finally a week or two ago they both got fired after being on paid leave for a month.

SIX YEARS!!!

Tell me again why unions are good idea? 100 years ago when there weren't overtime laws, employee safety laws, child labor laws, etc... yes, I could see the need for unions, but it seems that unions mostly protect the bad employees at the expense of the rest....

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I haven't seen many privates that give borrowing privileges, but I haven't looked too hard. The privates near me do not have borrowing programs for the locals.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): It's true that many public unis give borrowing privileges, but I don't think any of those mentioned are public. I'm sure there are some public universities in the city, but the city (much like Boston) is dominated by the privates. Hopefully, the 'burbs are close enough and have some reciprocal lending program (or are required by law).

plus, when i go to the library, i'm going for fun books. and a lot of people are going to borrow children's books which aren't really stocked at university libraries.

It IS the last resort. Why is this so hard to understand? The mayor took a pay cut almost a year ago, as did most of the City Hall staff. The degree of denial on the part of the public about the seriousness of the city's budget issues is staggering. We're beyond bandaids and meatless Fridays; if we were a household we'd already be homeless.

Philadelphia is broke, and its state funding is tied up in a legislature that won't pass a budget. Is this so hard to understand? It's not a plot, it's not the rich oppressing the poor, it's the same dysfunctional partisan politics that are paralyzing everything from federal to local government, exacerbated by the very real loss of income caused by the economic crash. You can't provide government services if there's no money to pay the workers.

"At least you didn't pretend to be going there for the books"

I go to my library for the books. Try reading sometime. Who knows, you might like it.

I have visited a few times, there is no way in hell I would ever live there and I currently live in hell.

Having to pay to have any library access has me seriously considering buying a membership to some of the big private lending libraries.

This is a widespread misconception that keeps library funding statewide at below-functioning levels. Andrew Carnegie *built* libraries. Andrew Carnegie did not *fund* the library system: he did not leave an endowment.

As a librarian friend explained to me: there's never trouble coming up with funds to build a library. Somebody will always come forward to have a building named after them. As for operating funds, everyone thinks it's someone else's problem.

Librarians are getting laid off left and right in the Burgh, programs are getting cut, garbage isn't getting taken out, branches are closing, and it looks like it could get worse. Just when people need public libraries the most.

I'm not sure about Nutter but I sincerely believe that Street used this city for himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he was found to be involved in some sort of graft.

The city flourished during Governor Rendell's eight years as Philadelphia's mayor. When he left office he left the city with a huge cash surplus. That surplus disappeared before Street's first term was over. HEY STREET! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO WITH THE MONEY? The city continued to spiral downward since then.

STREET AND NUTTER, TWO OF A KIND...ASSHOLES!

Redbox. Will not use it. No point to it since I use the library and Netflix.

We donate to our libraries when we no longer want our vids, DVD's, books, CD's.

It's a sad state of affairs all around, and I'm sure both of our states have several less important things get less cut backs. It truly is sad and pathetic that the well being and education of the future is far less important than anything else, and that they are traditionally first to be voted on during these hard times.

While entertainment is important to degree as many people live without it, I'm sure some football or baseball stadium will recieve funding to stay open before the money gets put into those things which everyone everywhere actually need to survive.

I suspect it may be less that they try to cut the least used and more that they try to cut the most visible - to increase pressure on. in this case the state, to pass it's budget. I suspect there are probably lots of other things they could cut that wouldn't be noticed.

Example 1: The Connecticut DOT could not be bothered actually managing a construction project, so they contracted out that task to a well-connected company. Only that company, which was paid millions to supervise it, did absolutely nothing. The work done was poor and had to be redone. In order to avoid paying to redo it, the construction company liquidated itself, its owners reconstituted as another firm, and proceeded to lobby for more state business. CT DOT officials — who obviously had no problem with this situation — were ready to award them more work, when the story was reported and the state A.G. had to step in. The re-work took another 2 years and a great deal more money, only some of which has been recovered.

Example 2: New York City public schools are famously home to what are called "rubber rooms." These are places in which tenured but incompetent teachers are allowed to sit and do nothing all day, yet earn their salaries for having done nothing. You see, they cannot be fired, no matter how bad they are; since they are by contract "entitled" to work, this is the only way to keep them from hurting kids' education or harming them.

Both of these examples, and more, are basically ways in which money is sucked out of the public coffers, for no good purpose ... and which are actually, actively defended by some officials, who consider these to be good ideas.

It's not just Philadelphia that uses this scheme of token, annoying, noticeable cuts to entice taxpayers into paying more ... governments at ALL levels (municipalities, counties, regional authorities, and states) across the country do it. It's an old trick, but curiously, it seems to work more often than not, and most people are blissfully unaware they're being "played." The cold hard fact is that government officials profit too much from bloated government and artificially-high budgets, for them to slice them down to size.

I invite you to come over to the Queens (Borough Public) Library here in New York City. Definitely more than school age students and the elderly using the library among the many branches.

There are good reasons why it has the highest circulations in the country for two consecutive years (outlapping the more familiar crosstown New York Public Library)

absolutely.

our library has free wifi, which can be accessed about a block away, (I've seen lots of people pull up on their lunch our and netbook away), 24 free compuers with internet access, and 6 reserved computers just for students (prob with net nanny).

The computers are all taken every open hour (and they're open 6 days a week, till 9 on mondays)

Pretty impressive, imo, considering our state in in the midst of a 3bill deficit (or whatev).

My kingdom for an edit button...

I'll give you credit though. At least you didn't pretend to be going there for the books

There is plenty of fat that can be cut in any municipal budget. I have no doubt that the libraries could be operated ten times over if all of the crap were cut out of the PA budget. The problem is that no one is willing to honestly look at what the government should and should not be funding. On top of that, the massive amounts of fraud that occur are a massive drain on resources.

Personally I really think the city needs some rebuilding - dumb things like not allowing casinos or the stupid rule about not having buildings taller than city hall really killed businesses during the booming years.

But the city is not a lost cause. It just needs some major reform. I look towards the Universities for that, they've the greatest power and influence.

Chicago did something like this recently, only they shut down all government buildings... without telling anyone. So, people were taking off of work to go handle parking tickets or other business, and all the buildings were closed. Oops, too bad! And the city plans to do it two more times this year.

Man, stories like this make me realize how lucky we are.

I don't know what I'd do without the library available.

Cry, probably.

The way pretty much every political group prioritizes in the budget is ass backwards. They threaten to cut police and fire coverage, trash pickup etc etc and yet never threaten to get rid of paper pushers in city hall or staff and certain licensing agencies like say the Cosmetology licensing board or things like that. Somehow I think conditions would be bad without fire coverage but not if people had to wait a couple extra weeks for their barber's license.

Thats the equivalent of me not paying the mortgage to keep the cable one should I lose my job.

And the very reason they do this, is if the prioritized correctly, people might realize they don't actually need the hulky bulky gov't they've got...

I want to become a librarian, but things like this make me realize more and more that no one gives a damn about literacy, knowledge or libraries. It's absolutely sickening.

I'm sorry, but closing a library (or ALL OF THEM, MY GOD!) should be an absolute last resort. Libraries are more than just books. They are the centers of community. They teach classes, they have child reading groups, they provide computers and job help. Study groups. Test prep. They hold community events. To close them down is heartless, cruel and short sighted.

It is a slap to the face for this to be in Philadelphia, the home of Benjamin Franklin, the man who strove to create the very public libraries that are now being closed down.

@SpruceStreetPhil: But what if you are a kid? Mom and Dad can't just take you over to the IU library and plop you down in the information commons and say "have at it". What are you going to end up with - "How to Program in C", "The New Oxford Persian Dictionary", "How to Pass Your GRE"?

Some of my fondest Saturday afternoons were spent in a public libary. IU does have some community services and Monroe County has a GREAT public library. Even where I live in LaPorte County, we have a very nice public library. It's great for kids who enjoyed reading (like me). I love libraries. Research makes them essential and after being in a crap uni library in England for the past year, I am happy to be back home!

I don't know the particular situation in Philly, but here in Illinois a lot of former "growth" communities screwed themselves, because back in the housing heyday, they thought tax revenues would continue to grow and they spent money irresponsibly, leaving themselves with huge deficits now that real estate taxes have flattened out.

/snark

Why Johnny Can't Read: because Carmine needs to sleep in his van all day at full Public Works salary (plus benefits to die for).

Most public libraries have had sort of a resurgence since the economy has taken a dump and people have canceled their Netflix subscriptions. I have a library a few miles from my house here in Fort Worth and it is busier than ever.

In addition to books, they get tons of new DVDs and CDs, and they're hooked up with several neighboring towns and everything is searchable and reservable online. They shoot you an email when your stuff is ready to pick up. It's great. You should check yours out.

Outragious.

My small city library (in CT) was built with Carnagie funds in 1929, beautifull buliding, but of course it's kept going on the city budget.

I've always used our library, but a stint of unemployment recent left we with a vast appreciation for just how much the library contributes to our city. Like the 'anchor stores' in the malls that took the shopping biz out of our once vibrant downtown, the library (and post office) are the anchors on what's left of Main street. without them, it would truly be a wasteland.

sad.

Every university I've gone to or lived near has had local borrowing programs. Some charge a nominal yearly fee, but more often they're free.

You can only get the books for two weeks, usually (as opposed to, say, six for grad students and 12 for profs), and you're often subject to "callback" if a student needs it for research, but it's still a good deal!

Uni libraries typically have crap "fun" fiction sections, though.

I find it ironic since public libraries were created in the first place to let everyone have that knowledge no matter their income.

I don't think most middle/upper class people really realize what a huge resource these institutions are to the children of this country.

Not everyone has a computer at home, not everyone can afford to buy books. This is something worth shouting about.

So I have no library at all now and the next town over wants $70 for a year even though their inventory sucks. You can get every Harlequin romance novel ever written but forget about any sort of non fiction or reference books.

My solution is going to be buying a ton more books used and paying to use the library at one of the universities so I can get academic books. Copyright infringement my arse. Most of the books I need are really old anyways. They are getting scanned and copied for my personal library. The way things have been going I have doubts I would ever be able to get the books again if I needed them a second time with all the library closures.

@SpruceStreetPhil: Unfortunately, I'm guessing you can't get borrowing privileges at most of them, which is what many people want.

To those who cannot travel to these libraries and still want these services (most likely no one reading this blog,) start a petition to Nutter.

We're going to raise your taxes or the librarian gets it!