Budget Cuts Bring Problems For Chicago Libraries
By Staff in News on Sep 6, 2009 5:45PM
Photo by mmmmarshall
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, library spokeswoman, Ruth Lednicer, claimed that the layoffs were not a funding cut, "Yes, it hurts, absolutely it hurts us. But it isn't something where the city made targeted cuts on specific departments. This is something where everybody was asked to take furloughs to help close the budget gap," Lednicer said. "That union chose not to make the concessions to keep the jobs."
Although Lednicer may not feel that the city is targeting libraries, local library patrons who belong to small branches with high circulation aren’t happy. Gail Hoover of Edgewater has even started volunteering at the Edgewater Branch, "They just need help, period. I don't really care where it comes from," Hoover told the Tribune. "They don't even have time to shelve books. It's just a staffing issue. It's not just them, but their circulation's so high and the staff is so low."
Post by: Anna Deem