Dec 30 2008
Several Philly libraries to close tomorrow
Wednesday will be that last day that 11 libraries in Philadelphia will be open. In the meantime, mayor Michael Nutter is looking for for private funding for those libraries so that they can stay open, he announced yesterday. His plan is to turn those buildings into Enrichment Centers with the help of private partnerships. Nutter says there are five such partnerships in the works to help eventually occupy all 11 centers. He also announced that the after school LEAP program would remain open in buildings close to the libraries that house it.
As you would expect, the library closings have been met with much opposition and you would have hoped that something like libraries would have survived the city’s recent budget cuts. However, it looks like the city is moving forward with these plans and it doesn’t seem likely that the libraries will return in their current form in the future.
After I posted this, a story came out that a judge ruled that the mayor must get City Council approval before closing the libraries:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/30/philly-mayor-booed-closing-libraries-effort-tackle-deficit-budget/
This might end up saving the libraries, I am not sure. In the meantime there are updates and stories here:
http://outside.in/Philadelphia_PA/tags/closing%20libraries