Sep

Philadelphia Public Libraries Set To Close

As of October 2, Philadelphia’s public libraries will close due to budget constraints. All branch activities and programs will be shut down and all books are due by October 1. Of course, this move is pending emergency funding from the Pennsylvania State Legistlature, which will probably come through in the end. Nevertheless, in the era of the internet, it would be interesting to see how many people actually miss the public library’s facilities and services should funding not come through.

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http://eastcoaststormchasing.webs.com/ Ari

MAJOR screw up from the City of Philadelphia and from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well. Hopefully the emergency funding will come through.
ninstaller

Losing the Public Library would be a crime. Ben Franklin rolls in his grave.
JeffS

In the era of the internet?

I’m not following. Is there a free internet source (assuming you have a computer) for the books that libraries provide? Have you been in or around a public library recently? There are still a LOT of people who utilize their services. From supporting their recreational reading habits without the bankruptcy inducing Kindle fees to searching for jobs.

I’m sure this is just due to an inept legislator, but it’s sad nonetheless.
micah

This is really a big game of political chicken, part of the “Doomsday budget” to try and scare the state into bailing out Mayor Nutters stupid mistakes. The next part of the plan is to cancel court system funding and laying off 3,000 police and firefighters.
Isaac

JeffS beat me to it, but yeah, the libraries around here are packed with people everyday for reasons often other than books. There are still a ton of kids that don’t have computer access in their homes.
I had no idea Philly was in such bad financial shape.
Dana

While the libraries may seem “packed”, it is hard to overlook the fact that Wake County spent $4,000,000 renovating the Cameron Village library. That’s the cost of about 13,333 Kindles at RETAIL pricing. I doubt that there are more than 13,000 different people who check out books at that branch.

As far as internet access goes…the computer section occupies under 5% of the footprint of that building.

Perhaps we could offer the same services in a more efficient manner. I saw a story last week about a private school getting rid of its library and going all digital. Mind you, private schools have a budget to which they must adhere (they can’t just hold a gun to their constituent’s heads and force them to pay for inefficiencies).

The government has other facilities that are underutilized while it is using a method of delivery that is inconsistent with our modern abilities. We should at least look into digital delivery of all content, and merging park spaces and facilities with the library’s non-book delivery functions.
RaleighRob

^Four million bucks isn’t that much for a public facility that size, considering how long it had been since it had last received any upgrades.
Those renovations will be good for about three decades when you think about it….elevator, desks, chairs, lighting. All modern and long-lasting, presumably. I’m sure that figure also included all the badly-needed technology upgrades and such.

And yeah, I would bet there are way more than 13,000 people who check out books at that branch. The checkout desk is always busy. From my experience, 4 times out of 5, a book I need there is already checked out, and it has to be put on a reserve request. (And no, I’m not usually checking out recent releases…this is for stuff that’s been out 2 or so years.)

Besides here’s a fact: their website states that for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the Cameron Village branch alone circulated well over a million books: http://www.wakegov.com/news/archive/2008/87384.htm I doubt that 13,000 people checked out a million books in a year…that’d be about 79 books a year per person! (While there are some heavy readers out there, I would bet the more typical/average patron does something like a few books a month.)
Not to mention, that wasn’t the highest circulation in the system…that page shows three other branches had even more books checked out….with a county-wide total of 10.3 million.
TSnow27604

Sure, we should go all digital and but then library cards would have to cover visits to the optician for the glasses and a hospital stay for the carpal-tunnel surgery. Good luck little kids. And don’t get hit on the walk home after dark since you can’t check out a book.

gogoraleigh.com

Philadelphia Public Libraries Set To Close

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