The economy has not been in the spotlight as much as it should in the eyes of this writer. Job losses continue to mount, two wars are emptying our financial reserves and the real estate market is basically dead. Many Americans are making sacrifices just to stay afloat, both at home and in our communities. Many municipalities are laying off teachers, firemen and policemen at rates never seen before. The latest casualty in this torrid fiscal landscape is the public library.
In Camden, N.J., the library board has indicated that the city’s libraries will not be able to operate after December 31, 2010, due to budget cuts. This means unless the funding is found, the city’s three public libraries will close at the end of the year.
With a population just under 80,000, Camden is New Jersey’s most impoverished city with 55 percent of the residents being African American. The FBI has described the city historically as being one of the nation’s most dangerous cities over the past decade.
Camden’s library system, which opened in 1904, is in the process of donating, selling and even destroying the 187,000 books maintained in its collection. In Queens, N.Y., 14 libraries ended weekend library services earlier this year. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
