Libraries in Los Angeles and in other cities and counties are being targeted by cash-strapped governments looking to save money, but the city of Glendale is taking an even-handed approach to municipal budget cuts that doesn’t single out library services.
Los Angeles libraries will now all be closed on Sundays and Mondays. Jacket Copy has the Central Library’s new hours and a few quotes on what access to books meant to philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
The cutbacks are occurring less than a year after Los Angeles completed a 10-year branch library building program, culminating in the Gold-LEED certified Silverlake Branch.
Marilyn Johnson’s LA Times commentary on impending library cuts is a wake-up call. Our municipal libraries are a free source of learning, research, information, job training, and all-around civic improvement, an “engine of democracy” which should not be dismantled or run on fumes.
Glendale is already hosting more Los Angeles residents who find their local libraries closed. Join the Friends of the Glendale Public Library, and speak up to make sure our residents and their children continue to have access to this vital civic resource for all.