Bleak outlook if library cuts made

“Our current budget has already been reduced by $14.6 million, or 15 percent,” he said, “and our workforce is down more than 200 positions, compared to the days when six-day-a-week service was funded for every neighborhood.”

Last year, the library system was allocated $83.2 million and then in mid-year was cut $1.6 million. The proposed allotment for FY 2013 is $56.5 million.

Galante told the board at its annual budget hearing that last year when he testified, the funding cut was “nothing short of devastating,” while this year, “the scenario surpasses even that. If the budget were passed as proposed today, we would be facing job losses and library closures to a degree that is almost too absurd to detail.”

The borough board is made up of the borough president, her deputy and community board district managers. Several Queens City Council members attended the hearing.

Every year, like clockwork, the mayor proposes low-ball figures for the Queens Library and by June, after rallies and pressure from City Council members, a large part of the funding is restored. Last year, for example, the mayor called for cuts of $25.3 million to the Queens Library, but $23 million was restored.

Galante called the latest proposal, “the largest budget challenge we have ever faced,” adding that the proposed cuts would force the system to close branches several days a week: “Around half of the 45,000 people who visit us every day would find their local library closed. The loss to the community would be unthinkable.”

He noted that libraries are now open five days a week everywhere and that weekend service is available at 19 locations. In addition, after-school programs are held in every branch each school day.

Galante asked council members listening to his testimony to keep up the fight for the library system as they have in the past.

“I know that none of us here wants to imagine shutting the doors on the teen looking for tutoring, the new immigrant looking for English language classes, the young mother in need of an enriching environment for her children or the unemployed person looking for resume help and a computer on which to conduct job searches,” he added. “If our budget is slashed by over 40 percent as is proposed, that is exactly what would happen.”

The Queens Library includes 62 locations and served more than 14 million visitors last year.