Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
REMARKS
Council member acknowledges libraries' role in democracy and current challenges
0:40:54
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Council Member Carlina Rivera expresses gratitude for the leadership of the library systems and acknowledges their crucial role in democracy, especially during challenging sociopolitical times. She recognizes the difficulty of planning for future needs with stagnant funding and emphasizes that the current budget is insufficient for the extensive work required across 217 branches.
- Rivera highlights the importance of libraries as inclusive spaces for all
- She mentions using library services herself, including borrowing books and using the Culture Pass program
- The council member acknowledges the historical significance and maintenance challenges of library buildings
Carlina Rivera
0:40:54
Thank you.
0:40:56
Thank you to the three of you of course for your leadership.
0:40:59
Truly inspiring the work that you do.
0:41:02
That you've remained this pillar of democracy in what is undoubtedly a very interesting sociopolitical moment where many of us feel lucky that libraries are for everyone when there is a lot of language really disenfranchising so many and marginalizing people who are already historically underserved.
0:41:25
And it's hard.
0:41:26
It's hard to plan for future needs when the money incoming has remained the same.
0:41:29
I think anyone can say that.
0:41:31
If you have the same money coming in every single year that remains the same, ten years later it's gonna catch up.
0:41:36
It's gonna hurt a lot.
0:41:38
So we're understanding of that needs.
0:41:41
Maybe $480,300,000 sounds like a lot to some folks, but 217 branches, a lot of work, very old buildings with incredible history attached to them, and so we have to make sure that people understand that it is not enough.
0:41:58
And that the pegs that you also sustained, I'll ask in a minute in terms of some of the system, some of the changes that you might have had to incorporate as a result of those those pegs.
0:42:10
I just wanted to say there's so many great things about your systems.
0:42:16
I mean borrowing books of course.
0:42:18
I didn't wait that long for like a popular book.
0:42:21
It was like Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
0:42:24
I didn't wait that long.
0:42:24
And after I read it, I loved it so much, I went to my local bookstore and bought a copy.
0:42:30
So you know, either way.
0:42:33
And I also just this weekend I used Culture Pass, which is a way to get for free into our beloved cultural institutions just by having a library card, and I went to the Children's Museum on the Upper West Side and had a lovely time, so thank you.