REMARKS
Council Member Shahana Hanif remarks on the impact of potential New York City library service cuts
1:26:50
·
96 sec
Council Member Shahana Hanif expresses gratitude for library workers and concern over potential cuts to library services and programs.
- She states cuts have had a devastating effect on the city
- She emphasizes libraries' role in promoting intellectual freedom and resisting censorship
- She focuses on the impact cuts would have on programs for children and teens
- She underscores libraries' importance for democracy, literacy, and community support
Shahana Hanif
1:26:50
Thank you so much, chairs, and thank you for being here.
1:26:53
And I just wanna give a a big gratitude to all of our library workers You all are brilliant, so talented, and it it just hurts my heart to hear that we're in a place where we can't bring in all of the sort of folks who are trying to get into this industry.
1:27:18
And that that's a a big failure for for our city.
1:27:23
Of course, the Sunday cuts have had a devastating effect on our city and to think that Saturday services might be cut also is it's overwhelming.
1:27:36
It's overwhelming and It is disruptive to our local democracy, just like real talk.
1:27:43
This is disruptive to our local democracy as other states ban books, our libraries, you all have stood firm in pushing back against censorship and really making sure that our libraries are dedicated to intellectual freedom, curiosity, and allowing all types of characters and authors to be in our shelves and on our walls.
1:28:10
So I I just wanna get into the weeds a little about how the impact of cuts on programs are going to impact children and teens.
1:28:20
And I want to go through because the library has coverage of so many constituencies.
