May. 17, 2024 By Gabriele Holtermann
A rally was held at the Queens Public Library at Forest Hills on May 16, during which Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis Walcott, union reps and library advocates called on Mayor Eric Adams to reverse the proposed $58.3 million budget cuts to the New York Public Library (NYPL), the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), and the Queens Public Library (QBL) for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins on July 1, 2024.
Mayor Adams already slashed the budget for New York City’s public libraries by $22.1 million in November 2023, forcing the closure of virtually all neighborhood library branches on Sundays. The leaders of the city’s three public library systems say further cuts would force them to cut services to five days a week, among other drastic measures.
QBL alone faces nearly $17 million in budget cuts, 12% more than the library’s operating budget. Besides cutting library services to five days a week, the cuts would also mean a delay in reopening three recently renovated Queens library branches due to staffing shortages, investments in new books and technology, vital programs like homework resources for students, workshops, English language classes and building repairs and maintenance.