What is going on with New York’s public libraries?

chart showing rising demand and program attendance at NYs libraries and lowering support
Rising demand for NY’s libraries and lowering support. Source.

I know people are probably pretty up on the general level of change, upheaval and consternation that are happening surrounding NYPLs big changes, most notably the changes at the Central Library but also the closure and sale of the Mid-Manhattan branch. You may not know about the closure and sale of some of the Brooklyn Public Library’s branches in which buildings are being sold and new spaces are being leased/rented to fit the library collections, programs and staff into. I know we’ve been fighting against some of the major downsides involved in leasing versus owning content, I think it’s important to think about the major downsides involved in renting rather than owning real estate. Here is some further reading about the Brooklyn plans.

Want to get involved?

SLA talk: Doing More With Less

Hi. Thanks so much to everyone who made me feel welcome and dealt with our extension cord search when they were already full of food and working on dessert at the SLA meeting this evening. I had a great time giving the talk and I hope you revisit it to follow the links we didn’t have time to click-click-click through. The talk is here: Doing More with Less, High Tech on a Shoestring. If you scroll all the way to the end of it and click on the “printable” link you can see the notes that I actually (sort of) read from.