Supporting Libraries in Tough Economic Times

As this recession drags on, cities are facing tough financial decisions. Yesterday, I, and six other members of the Woman's Club of Spokane attended a Library Board meeting to express our concern about a budget decision.  The board is choosing to close a branch library in a very poor, central urban neighborhood in our city so all other branches can remain open full time.  The Library board recently announced that the East Central library branch closure was based on "metrics".  The "metrics" were:  least amount of traffic [except Internet use] and closest in distance to other branch libraries.  The catch, many new immigrants live in this area [Spokane has a large international refugee settlement program], children and teens walk to this branch as their parents cannot afford to drive them to this library on any other, and bus coverage in this area is inadequate and about to get cut back even more.  In addition, there are two large elementary schools in this neighborhood and this is considered a safe haven for children after school.

The crowd of about 30, of all political persuasions and economic levels, had quite a few ideas about alternatives to closure.  Our club president, Ginger, testified about GFWC's long standing support for public libraries, especially in under served neighborhoods.  Another member Louise, presented over 100 letters of concern from the  general community about the closure of this branch.  I spoke to the TV news.   No one wants to see a library close, even in hard times.  Libraries are too important of an element for sustaining our American way of life. We hope the board will reconsider their choice.

My thought: surely closing a library in a more affluent neighborhood where access [by a parents car] to other libraries is less of an issue makes more sense for the common good.