Monthly Archives: June 2013
Assembly Member Micah Kellner, Chair of the Committee on Libraries and Education Technology, has called a public hearing on the sale of New York City library buildings to private developers on Thursday, June 27, in Manhattan. The Committee to Save the New York Public Library needs a big show of support at this hearing! Please attend, and demonstrate to our elected officials that New Yorkers do care what happens to their libraries and the services they provide!
Thursday, June 27th, 10:30am
250 Broadway, Room 1923
(between Murray Street and Park Place, across from City Hall)
Arrive early to go through security, and bring photo ID.
Please join us and voice your concerns about the Central Library Plan. We will be speaking against the cost of the plan, the proposed destruction of the historic seven-story book stacks in the 42nd Street Library, the proposed sale of the Mid-Manhattan Library, and the shrinkage of the Mid-Manhattan and Science, Industry and Business Library into a space one-third their current size. We will ask for an independent audit of the cost of the plan, along with an analysis of the cost of alternatives such as combining the Science, Industry and Business Library and the Mid-Manhattan in a rehabilitated and expanded building on the Mid-Manhattan site.
If you wish to testify at the hearing, the Assembly requires speakers to pre-register by submitting a Public Hearing Reply Form NO LATER THAN TUESDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 25. The form can be submitted via email or fax, and can be found online here: http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/Library/20130610/
If you wish to attend but not speak, there is no need to pre-register.
If you wish to submit testimony but cannot appear in person at the hearing, you can still send a statement in the form of a .pdf or Word document to:
Lindsey Facteau, Legislative Analyst
Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology
Suite 1147, Alfred E. Smith Building
80 South Swan Street
Albany, New York 12248
Email: facteaul@assembly.state.ny.us
Phone: (518) 455-4881
Fax: (518) 455-4128
Representatives from Citizens Defending Libraries will be speaking against the proposed sale and shrinkage of branch libraries in Brooklyn and across the city.
After a slightly delayed start due to a truly torrential downpour, Monday’s vigil at the NYPL’s Spring fundraising gala went well! The rain stopped shortly after 6 PM, the skies started to clear, and we sent a powerful message to the New York Public Library administration.
Reverend Billy and his choir injected a wonderful jolt of energy into the proceedings, and concluded with a newly composed song (with the refrain, taken from Ada Louise Huxtable’s scathing review of the Central Library Plan, “You don’t update a masterpiece”). As the music ended, Rev. Billy led the crowd up the library steps, where several people spoke passionately about the need to save the 42nd Street Library and not sell off branch libraries.
Meanwhile, others were leafletting the donors as they arrived. The NYPL’s Ken Weine (Vice President of Communications & Marketing) and an assistant came out to the plaza to escort donors into the building and to attempt to explain what was happening. Many donors accepted leaflets, and our concerns were well conveyed!
