No Philadelphia Libraries To Close in Current Fiscal Year, but Open Hours Uncertain
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 01/30/2009
- 11 jeopardized branches open through at least June 30
- Open hours uncertain
- Prospect for next fiscal year unclear
In Philadelphia, some fierce civic activism, coupled with a victory in court, stalled Mayor Michael Nutter’s plans to close 11 of 54 branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and now Nutter has pledged not to close any libraries within the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Nutter won’t even close the branches if the city wins its appeal of a judge’s ruling nixing the closures because he hadn’t asked the City Council for permission.
How many days of service?
It remains unclear, however, how many days branches will remain open, and whether there will be any money for them next year. FLP director Siobhan Reardon calls the current model "shaky six"—an announced plan to keep all branches open six days per week, but in practice many closures are necessitated by short-staffing. So now the branches may be open three-and-a-half or four days a week.
In one adjustment, Reardon has backed off from a policy that required four staff people present for a library to open; now they can open if a fourth person is on the way to work, according to the newspaper.
Ironically enough, library advocates and the staff union had protested the library’s practices of operating branches with only three staffers. When Reardon upped the number to four, she found herself facing different protests, from those who thought she was ensuring that more branches would close on an emergency basis.
A donation
Meanwhile, District Attorney Lynne Abraham has said she plans to give her state-mandated $4,409 pay raise to the library.
