Libraries Confront Budget Crisis with Cutbacks and Closures

摘要

The worsening economy has resulted in a massive wave of cutbacks and closures at libraries nationwide. In addition to previously reported actions such as Seattle Public Library's systemwide shutdown for a week in December (AL, Dec. 2002, p. 46), cost-cutting measures have ranged from Sunday closings in Erie, Pennsylvania, to the permanent shutting of all branches in Binghamton, New York. And the looming effects of statewide cuts in California, Massachusetts, and elsewhere remain to be seen.