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Q&A
Plans for expanding seven-day library service and budget challenges
1:21:20
ยท
159 sec
Council Member Rivera inquires about plans to expand seven-day library service, as mentioned in the Speaker's State of the City address. Library presidents discuss the challenges of implementing this expansion and maintaining services with constant budgets.
- The Speaker called for 10 additional branches to be open seven days a week
- Currently, only 21 out of 219 total branches are open seven days
- Library presidents haven't yet identified which branches will be added to seven-day service
- They highlight the broader issue of constant budgets leading to effective cuts due to inflation
- Expanding service hours is expensive due to overtime costs and union agreements
- Library presidents express willingness to expand service but stress the need for assured funding
Carlina Rivera
1:21:20
Okay.
1:21:21
And just speaking of hours, you know this council under the leadership of speaker Adams have really championed libraries.
1:21:29
It was mentioned in the state of the city speech calling for 10 additional branches to be open seven days a week.
1:21:36
I think out of the two nineteen total branches only 21 are currently open seven days.
1:21:43
And so how do we meet all the unmet needs of the three systems?
1:21:49
What is the administration's plan and what is your plan to accomplish the goal of getting the 10 additional branches to be open seven days a week and then seeing how much further we can go in that expansion?
1:22:03
We're still deciding, right, on the 10?
Dennis Walcott
1:22:05
Yeah, I mean.
Linda E. Johnson
1:22:06
Yeah, we haven't identified which branches will be added to the list.
1:22:13
The question really though is a much broader question than the Sunday service.
1:22:18
It's really at the core of everything that we're talking about today which is having been held constant for so long, we've really been facing cuts every year.
1:22:30
And we know it's not popular to talk about the increased cost of doing business these days.
1:22:37
We know that our counterparts at every agency in the city are experiencing the same inflation and the same increased cost of doing business, but in addition to just the inflation that we are experiencing, we're also in a situation where our budgets have remained constant for so long that we've in essence experienced cuts along the way.
1:23:02
And by the way, at the same time that we've expanded service.
Christopher Leon Johnson
1:23:08
Again,
Tony Marx
1:23:10
we are so grateful to the speaker and to the council for this proposal.
1:23:15
We would we would like as much seven day service as possible.
1:23:19
It does mean over time because of our arrangements, our negotiations with with our wonderful partners at in the unions.
1:23:29
We understand that people need to be paid what they need to be paid, but it's expensive.
1:23:35
Gail's been on this forever.
1:23:38
We we are delighted to do more, but we need an assurance of the budget.
1:23:46
And, you know, and and we we see the OMB as great partners in this, and we hope we can find a great resolution that will produce more seven day service for New Yorkers.