Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Billionaire Mayor Mike Throws Money behind Gun Control but Not NY Libraries U can help


Canvass the Main 42 Street Library and Mid-Manhattan library on Wednesday evening from 6:00-7:30 PM, steps of the 42 Street Library and in front of 40th Street and 5th Ave. 
Canvass the Mid-Manhattan library, 40th Street and 5th Ave on Thursday from 12:30-1:30.
Canvass Brooklyn Heights Library next Friday from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM.  Bring them cold water and thank the staff for working in an unairconditioined building!   

Next CDL meeting is Sunday at 101 Clark Street, Cadman Towers, 4:00 PM and ending at 5:30 PM. Take any subway to Court Street Borough Hall. *Note the new time. 

Citizens Defending Libraries stands for the rights for all to access information and public libraries.  We also stand against the exploitation of public resources for private gain and the exclusion of the public from decisions made about the publically owned resources. 

News and articles Are we making a difference? 

Big news from NYPL $300M job is halted at main branch of New York Public Library By Barbara Ross  / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 8, 2013, 9:39 PM 
The New York Public Library has voluntarily halted construction on its iconic main branch “until all approvals” are in hand, a library official said Monday.   The statements came after scholars and preservationists sued to block the plan because it requires the demolition of stacks under the landmark building’s Rose Reading Room and it would move more than 1 million books to New Jersey.  

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/300m-job-halted-main-branch-new-york-public-library-article-1.1393406 

Here is a well written piece by Nicole Gelinas (The Manhattan Institute): 
Real-estate fiction NY Public LibraryÂ’s risky scheme By Nicole Gelinas Last Updated: 12:08 AM, July 8, 2013Posted:  10:48 PM, July 7, 2013 
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/real_estate_fiction_Py6RHXoIZlrDES5HhqhVNN 

In this Daily News editorial, what looks like a pass along from the NYPL PR department,  the NYPL fights back with something that reads like a fourth grader wrote it.  They say the money raised for the Central Library Plan will come from selling a "delapidated library".  They are apparently talking about the Mid-Manhattan library which needs some, but not that much, maintenance that the NYPL is refusing to provide at a far lower cost than the cost of selling and shrinking the libraries.  The article does not mention the pattern of selling libraries for below market prices which is not benefitting the library or the public.   

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/shhhhhhh-article-1.1391465 

Here is an excellent article  
http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/07/02/the-new-york-public-library-must-be-saved-from-itself/ 

In case you missed it, here is startling testimony at State Assembly Micah Kellner's Hearing on NYC Library Sales."The New York Public Library has LOST the documents of their own history.   Tragically, it's not too surprising since the current leadership of the library apparently has total contempt for the treasures in their care as they throw these materials up and down the New Jersey Turnpike in a cavalier fashion." Don Christensen testimony 

http://noticingnewyork.blogspot.com/2013/07/startling-testimony-at-state-assembly.html 

Have fun watching this video about the Troy, Michigan library and its guardians ploy to save it. Very, cool, and very, very smart.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw3zNNO5gX0 Such a shame it had to come to this, though.