Starting this week, most branches of the Chicago Public Library will be closed on Mondays due to budget cuts. (Two regional libraries, the Sulzer branch in Lincoln Square and the Woodson branch in Washington Heights, will continue to operate seven days a week, according to NBC Chicago.) With the Monday closures, the libraries are now open only Tuesday through Saturday.
A young patron at a branch of the Chicago Public Library.
image source: http://www.impatientoptimists.org
Many city residents are not happy about this, including public school teacher Jay C. Rehak, who wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Chicago Sun Times about it. "I am convinced that shuttering public libraries on Mondays is a disastrous decision that should be reconsidered," Rehak said in his letter. "If Chicago is to remain a world-class city, it must maintain a world-class library system."
I feel that Rehak makes other excellent points in his letter, such as "Chicago school students need as much time and as many safe places as possible to study and learn." For many students - and not just in Chicago - the public library is the only safe place where they can study and learn. Taking that away from them, even for one day (which also happens to be a school day), could have deleterious effects on their education and overall quality of life. If children are our future, as many people are fond of saying, we should do more - not less - to ensure their success.
See Jay C. Rehak's letter to the Chicago Sun Times below.
Chicago Sun Times * January 9, 2012
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Kids Need Libraries on Monday
As a Chicago Public School teacher for the past 22 years, I am convinced that shuttering public libraries on Mondays is a disastrous decision that should be reconsidered. Chicago school students need as much time and as many safe places as possible to study and learn. What the mayor and other cost-cutters may not understand is that we have over 10,000 homeless students in Chicago Public Schools. We have many more thousands of students who have places to live but do not have access to computers and a wide range of books beyond the classroom. Public Libraries serve as a first line of defense in a democracy. Rather than limiting library hours, Chicago should be looking to expand them.
TIF money could be used to fund the libraries remaining open on Mondays. After all, TIF districts literally take money from libraries, parks and schools and reallocate the money to a separate fund controlled by the mayor. Additionally, the notion that the librarians’ union is holding up a deal is an insult to those hard-working men and women. The union has consistently argued that the library hours should not be cut. Yes, this is due in part to the fact that the union doesn’t want to see people laid off, but also because it doesn’t want to agree to unnecessary service cuts. The union is advocating for the citizens of Chicago.
If Chicago is to remain a world-class city, it must maintain a world-class library system.
Jay C. Rehak, Lincoln Square
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