TESTIMONY
Tony Marx, President of the New York Public Library, on Devastating Impacts of Proposed Funding Cuts for Libraries
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9 min
Tony Marx, President of the New York Public Library, testifies about the severe consequences of the proposed $58.3 million FY25 budget cut for New York City's libraries, with $25.5 million cut for the New York Public Library alone.
- It would force closure of Sunday service at 7 library locations, resulting in no Sunday libraries citywide
- Most locations would operate only 5 days per week
- There would be 72,000 fewer books on shelves, projected to rise to 185,000
- Staffing cuts have already led to 69 unplanned closures from November to March
- More branches may delay reopening due to staffing shortages
- Core services like after-school programs, ESL classes, and research resources would be severely impacted
- The cuts threaten the ability to provide consistent, dependable library services and plan for the future
Tony Marx
0:22:32
Thank you, Linda.
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My name is Tony Marks, the president of the New York Public Library.
0:22:37
I want to thank City Council, speaker Adams, chairs, Rivera, and Brandon, the members of the committee, all of your colleagues for the opportunity to testify today.
0:22:49
Unfortunately, the New York City's libraries are in the same position we were in 2 months ago when we were last year.
0:22:57
We are facing a staggering FY 25 proposed cut of $58,300,000 and expense reductions, roughly $25,500,000 of cuts just for the New York Public Library alone.
0:23:13
We have now an even clearer understanding of the devastating and unprecedented impact that these cuts are already having on our system and our city.
0:23:26
While the midyear, PAG ended Sunday service at 7 locations, no more Sunday libraries in New York City.
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This budget cut will bring us down to 5 day service at the majority of our locations.
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This is unthinkable.
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We're not in the 19 seventies here.
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Collection reductions are already hitting home.
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We've seeing 72,000 fewer items already on our shelves.
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The number is projected to go up to 185,000.
0:24:04
Hiring and recruitment levels stemming from the November cut have already produced staff shortfalls and unplanned closings, 69 unplanned closings, just from November to March.
0:24:20
The trend will only worsen with fewer staff, fewer resources to pay for those staff, to commit to those staff, will have to potentially delay the reopening of a number of branches.
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The city, together with our private sources, invested roughly $160,000,000 in 5 of our incredible carnegies that were in terrible disrepair.
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In some of the neediest neighborhoods of this city.
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We were proud to partner with the city and with the city council to make that historic investment.
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To say to the people in those neighborhoods, you deserve a majestic inspiring and spectful library full of programs and amazing librarians and staff.
0:25:09
And we're ready.
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We're almost ready.
0:25:12
They are almost ready.
0:25:14
It is tragic and unthinkable that we have to even consider not opening.
0:25:21
Those branches, not giving the New Yorkers the payback from their investment.
0:25:30
But those are the kinds of decisions we're now facing.
0:25:33
We'll have to reduce our budget for our pages are beloved beloved pages who are an essential workforce development pipeline into our system and elsewhere in the city.
0:25:49
As you know, we provide essential lifelines for underserved communities But we're looking at around 850 fewer hours per week, a 20% reduction in our system wide planned hours.
0:26:04
Unthinkable.
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Think about our 50 afterschool locations, our 20 teen centers, our 24 ESL locations, our 11 tax preparation locations are 40 college and career hubs.
0:26:19
None of that can happen.
0:26:22
If our doors aren't open, let alone, as Linda mentioned, the emergency maintenance requirements or the cooling centers that New Yorkers are gonna depend upon us, that the administration is gonna depend on us for this summer.
0:26:39
On the research side, we've already seen increased waiting times for key research library services, fewer service points staffed, reduced capacity to process preserve and conserve collections.
0:26:54
We are the most used public research library on the planet.
0:27:02
We represent New York.
0:27:05
This is not how you want New York represented when we cannot meet those needs for creators and artists and writers and scholars to come up with the solutions we need.
0:27:18
We need to feed that, not cut it off.
0:27:22
The city's the the city's recent preliminary mayor's management reports shows that by circulation, pro program attendance, library card registration, everything is rising.
0:27:35
Circulation up 50% since FY 21.
0:27:42
And that's not just because of the pandemic, because in the pandemic, we had eBook to replace the circulating books.
0:27:47
We were ready.
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We've always been ready for what New Yorkers need.
0:27:52
So why cut us now?
0:27:57
Let alone the threat, as Linda mentioned, of the state's in vocation of its maintenance of effort that would reduce are funding even further.
0:28:08
Capital, as Linda mentioned, is just as alarming.
0:28:13
We saw a removal in this budget of $45,500,000 from our 10 year capital plan.
0:28:21
Our system is aging.
0:28:24
Some of them over a 100 years.
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They are in disrepair and face critical issues even though we have proudly invested a $1,000,000,000 including 100 of millions of our private resources into capital improvements, there's still so much more that needs to be done.
0:28:44
We've got an amazing team that's proven its ability to do it, but we can't do it without the funding and without the security of that funding.
0:28:53
We will lose the progress we have made.
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We know when we invest in our branches what difference it makes Washington Heights library, neighborhood I grew up in.
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We did a total amazing renovation to that beautiful building, but was in sad shape.
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And we saw 47% increase in visits, a 45% increase in circulation, and a 105% increase in program attendance, the same in Charleston, the same throughout our system.
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We currently face at the New York Public Library a $500,000,000 plus capital needs.
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That are not men.
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But here we are.
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Battling for simple restoration when our costs have gone up, when our services have gone up.
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We are sitting here today.
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With cuts that threaten us with service reductions that we have to threaten in in response.
0:30:01
We are throwing threats back and forth.
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How is that helpful?
0:30:09
How is that useful?
0:30:12
It distracts us from doing the work we need to do that New Yorkers need us to do.
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We know the mayor looks to us to do takes pride in us doing.
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How can we build any consistency, and dependability, or growth?
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How can we plan?
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How can we deliver with this constant state?
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Of budget instability.
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This is no way to run a railroad or a city.
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Or the greatest library systems in the country.
0:30:48
The budget dance distracts us.
0:30:51
We spend months on edge running too many different budget scenarios.
0:30:57
We can't hire.
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We can't be ready to deliver.
0:31:05
So here we are.
0:31:08
Facing those cuts and facing, in our case, roughly $9,000,000 of additional costs just to do what we've already been doing.
0:31:17
Let's end this dance.
0:31:21
We love being with you all.
0:31:23
We love these have opportunities to share with each other, but let's not do it in this way.
0:31:32
The dance helps no one.
0:31:34
We need to restore our funding.
0:31:37
We need it baseline, so we're not right back where we started from months later, and we should be talking about an increase in funding given our costs and given what we are delivering.
0:31:50
Thank you so much for this opportunity.
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Linda Johnson, President and CEO of Brooklyn Public Library, on Severe Proposed Budget Cuts to Library Funding and Services
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Dennis Walcott, President and CEO of the Queens Public Library, on the Essential Role of Public Libraries and Urgent Need for Restoring Funding
