Interestingly enough, budget cuts to both the Los Angeles and the New York public libraries were recently reported on the same day. In slightly different ways.
In L.A., Jay Leno took heat from the city librarian, after he mentioned (almost in passing, with a smattering of applause) that the budget cuts might effect as many as nine people.
Check the video. The audience hissed louder during his bit about sneakers. Not that I don't understand where the city librarian is coming from -- I absolutely do (hey, I'm a librarian by training -- and I hate to see their budgets cut). But, if you ask me, Leno's remark seems less like a slam against libraries than one against Los Angeles. He seems to be suggesting that L.A. residents don't use libraries. However, the city librarian makes the following valid points, in a letter to Leno and his producer: "Despite what you make think, these cuts are no laughing matter to the 17 million people who use the city's libraries each year. ... These cuts mean less access to job-finding resources, homework help for students, literacy classes for adults and public computers that provide a bridge over the digital divide in every neighborhood."
Meanwhile, in New York City, major cuts proposed to the public library's budget inspired a video homage to Ghostbusters intended to rally support for the beleaguered institution.
Cute -- even if it does look like the library's being taken over by Klan members.
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