- $4 million in each of 3 years for the 85 Branch Libraries (in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island)
- $2 million per year in each of 3 years for the 4 Research Libraries (Humanities & Social Sciences Library, Library for the Performing Arts, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Science, Industry & Business Library)
Branch Libraries Funding Needs
Books and Materials - to ensure that books and materials - from best-sellers to current job information to up-to-date encyclopedias for children doing homework - remain available to Library patrons.
Computer Pages - to offer local high school and college students the opportunity to build work skills while assisting patrons who need help to make effective use of Library computers and online research tools.
Programming - to help sustain crucial programs directed toward children, teens, and adults, from the city-wide summer reading program, to writing workshops, to Meet the Author programs. Often these offerings are the only cultural and educational programs available free in many communities served by New York Public Library branches.
Spruce-ups - to address immediate needs in deteriorated facilities. These cost-effective "face-lifts" prevent future higher costs caused by deferred maintenance and result in dramatically increased attendance.
Research Libraries Funding Needs
Collections - to purchase books and subscriptions, and to add to the unique and rare materials that document and protect our history and heritage.
Preservation and Processing - to process, catalog, and preserve collections that will otherwise be unavailable to the public or will deteriorate to the point of being inaccessible.
Public Service - to ensure that staff is available to help users identify and locate the information they need for their research by answering questions at reference desks, providing classroom instruction in the use of Library resources, responding to phone or e-mail inquiries, and creating research tools that help users locate information independently.
How the Budget Cuts Affect NYPL
Budget Cuts to the Library in FY 2003
The New York Public Library comprises 4 Research Libraries and 85 Branch Libraries in the boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island. (Brooklyn and Queens have separate systems.) The $16.1 million in City cuts to The New York Public Library already taken in fiscal year 2003 have resulted in:
- The end of six-day service - 67 out of 85 Branches and all 4 research libraries are now at five days of service each week.
- The loss of 200 staff members - through attrition and early retirement.
- A 40 percent cut to the City-funded book budget - meaning 260,000 fewer books, an average of 3,000 books per branch.
- Fewer children reached through the Connecting Libraries and Schools Program (CLASP).
- Fewer adults reached by literacy programs in our nine Centers for Reading and Writing.
- Reduced technology, maintenance, and security, leading to equipment and facilities that are deteriorating.
Proposed Cuts for FY 2004
The Library is currently facing an additional proposed State cut of 15 percent, or $3 million, and an additional City cut of 12%, or $12.4 million, on top of the $16.1 million cut already absorbed in fiscal year 2003. If the currently proposed additional City and State cuts are enacted, The New York Public Library will have a combined loss of $31.5 million in public funding for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2003 (FY 2004).
This could result in:
- Staff lay-offs
- Further reductions in days of service in the Branch and Research Libraries - bringing most libraries to 4-day service
- Branch and Research Library collections reduced by millions of dollars
- Reduced electronic access for the public to certain materials and databases
- 50 percent reduction to remaining program budgets
- Elimination of all branch renovations and "spruce-ups"
- Devastating cuts to computer equipment budgets