This file photo shows people sitting at long desks in the Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library. (AP Photo/Mark Lenihan)
Newly released data shows that New York City’s public libraries experienced increased visitor and social interaction in the months before Mayor Adams’ budget cuts eliminated all library Sunday hours and reduced other services. Participation in the program has skyrocketed significantly.
The data was incorporated into the interim mayoral management report that Adams released Tuesday afternoon. The report covers the period from July 1, 2023, immediately before the announcement of Adams’ November plan, to October 31, 2023.
The New York Public Library System, which serves Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, welcomed more than 2.6 million visitors to its branches and issued 195,897 new library cards during that four-month period, according to data in the report. registered. This is a significant increase over his 2.4 million visitors and her 142,933 new library card registrations the system recorded during the same four-month period in 2022, the data shows. Masu.
“The data itself is reason enough for the mayor to put the library back in its place,” Manhattan City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, whose cultural affairs committee oversees the city’s three public library systems, told the Daily News on Wednesday. told. “There is a mental health component to library work, it is a driving force in society, and given such a large budget and how far that money goes, these cuts need to be reconsidered. That will be a big priority for the council.”
Adams’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adams’ team this month began negotiations with the council on next year’s $109 billion budget, which requires all local governments to address budget deficits exacerbated by expiring federal aid and tens of millions of dollars in spending. He said “difficult” cuts across agencies must be forced through. The city spends money each month to care for newly arrived immigrants.
The Mayor’s mid-year spending revisions, announced on November 16, 2023, include $23.6 million in library budget cuts as all libraries close on Sundays, as well as a hiring freeze and cuts to some social programs. It was. , Adams had planned to make further cuts to library funding this month, but the city’s tax revenue forecast has improved significantly, with three systems warning that further cuts would force the elimination of Saturday hours. After what happened, I withdrew the idea.
NYPL, the nation’s largest public library system, has seen an even sharper increase in the use of social programs that primarily serve low-income New Yorkers, including free literacy courses, after-school initiatives, and career support workshops. Includes initiatives.
Overall, the PMMR report showed that NYPL enrolled 369,555 people in such programs in the most recent reporting period. This is a 22% increase compared to the 287,701 people who participated during the same period in 2022. Usage of free Wi-Fi at NYPL branches has also skyrocketed, with the report recording 842,094 personal uses in the most recent four-month reporting period, compared to 395,219 check-ins during the comparable period in 2022. This is an increase of more than 100% compared to the previous cases.
The surge in demand for NYPL’s services is also reflected in the city’s two other public library systems, according to the report.
Queens Public Library branches welcomed approximately 2.1 million visitors and registered 36,081 new library cards in the most recent reporting period. In contrast, during his four-month period in 2022, 1.8 million visitors and his 28,966 new library cards were registered. According to the data, the use of social programs has also increased, with the number of individual users surging to 333,825 in the four months of 2023, compared to 263,061 in the previous period.
According to the report, the Brooklyn Public Library branch had the fastest increase in the number of new library cards issued, with the most recent number of cards issued at 105,876, compared to the previous number of 59,967 issued. . Data shows Brooklyn library visits rose from 1.3 million in the four-month period of 2022 to more than 1.8 million in the most recent period, and social program participation rose from 158,075 to 235,990. There was a sudden increase in
The report does not explain why demand for library services is increasing. But Rivera said the increase is not coming because many of the tens of thousands of immigrants, mostly Latinos, who will arrive in the city after 2022 are known to patronize the library. That’s what I’m thinking. Spokespeople for the three library systems did not respond to requests for comment.
Adams said last year that unless the city’s financial situation significantly improved, he would subject all institutions, including the library, to cuts again in April.
He has not ruled out the possibility of moving ahead with such cuts. But he suggested the library system consider leveraging donations provided by private donors to fill some of the funding gap created by the cuts.
At an interfaith breakfast Wednesday morning at the NYPL’s central branch in Manhattan, Mr. Adams avoided commenting on the budget issues looming for libraries and instead focused his remarks on spirituality.
But Ingrid Lewis Martin, the mayor’s chief adviser, said in remarks at the event that the mayor is a big supporter of libraries.
“The mayor believes in libraries,” she said.
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