By Clyde Brittelle

Our mayor Eric Adams has proposed budget cuts that would withhold funding that would otherwise go to, among others, the library system. According to Emma Fitzsimmons from The New York Times, “During his first year as mayor, Eric Adams said he was focused on ensuring that city government served the working-class New Yorkers who helped elect him. But now he is under fire for cutting funding for libraries — a critical lifeline for people who do not have internet access at home or who need after-school tutoring and English language instruction. The proposed cuts of $13 million this fiscal year and more than $20 million next year have sparked concern among families, elected officials and library leaders.” The consequence of this happening? Libraries will have to make some serious changes. These might include closing earlier, being open 5 days a week, laying of workers, or decreasing the services offered to visitors. All of these options would negatively affect library loving New Yorkers.  

Fitzsimmons says that, “With more than 200 locations across the city, the public library system is a beloved institution where children learn to love books and recently arrived migrants become acclimated to their new home…[L]ibrary leaders added that their services were needed more than ever following the disruption of the pandemic. ‘“We’d have no choice but to do less, and that would be a great shame for the city,”’ said Nick Buron, the chief librarian at the Queens Public Library…A group of 13 left-leaning council members called the mayor’s recent budget adjustments ‘“cruel and dangerous”’ and argued that they would make the city less stable.” 

Libraries are a haven of knowledge in NYC and without this funding, many people across all walks of life would be negatively affected. For many who do not have internet access at home, libraries are a place to study for tests, and spend time surfing the web. For the less fortunate, libraries offer  something bookstores  do not; free knowledge to a seemingly endless collection of literature. For kids who want access to books, libraries are there. And in a capitalist free market society, it is one of the few places where things are truly free. Libraries also provide a chance for college students to do research, and overall, for people to foster their love for books, literature, and reading as a whole.  Eric Adams might think libraries are not important  to a New Yorkers life, but he is wrong. I hope that all library loving New Yorkers stand up to help  our sacred institution.