Oh hey, Chicagoans. How’s it going? Did you know that your sexy mayor plans to slash your public library’s budget, with plans to lay off about a third of your city’s librarians and paraprofessional library staff and reduce hours at most of the library’s 78 locations by eight hours a week? Yeah, that’s part of his plan to close Chicago’s $646 million budget deficit.
Check out this piece at Library Journal for more specifics (though I’m sure you’ve been reading about it in your local media) and click here to download the PDF of Chicago’s 2012 Budget Overview.
Library Commissioner Mary A. Dempsey points out that reduced access means reduced visitorship and reduced circulation. It’s obvious, but she seems to be the only one concerned with what that could mean for future budgets. This type of severe budget cut creates a vicious cycle that erodes access and services. Additionally, changes in city funding could affect state-level funding.
What can you do? All the usual stuff. Call 311 and express your disapproval. Sign this petition. Get updates from this Facebook page and this twitter feed.
