By GREGORY N. HEIRES

The union’s three library locals carried out a citywide leafleting blitz in February to protest deep spending cuts. United around a battle cry of “Stop the attack on NY public libraries,” local union leaders and activists distributed informational flyers during their lunch breaks on Feb. 25-27.

The action captured a lot of media attention, heightening public awareness about the crisis in the city’s libraries. The flyers urged people to help stop further cutbacks by calling Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and their City Council representatives.

“The public was very supportive,” said Queens Library Guild Local 1321 President John Socha, describing patrons' reactions to the leafleting. Local 1321 protested at the main library in Jamaica and the Queens Village and Middle Village branches.

“Since the time of Ben Franklin, libraries have always been among the most popular municipal services,” Mr. Socha said. “People are very upset about their branches closing on Saturday, having less books available and seeing services decline.”

The leafleting occurred just days after Mr. Bloomberg released his preliminary Mayor’s Management Report for fiscal year 2003. In the report, the Bloomberg administration played down the impact of its budget cuts.

Core services
“Despite a year of budget cutting that saved more than $2.6 billion, the early results for fiscal year 2003 indicate that agencies have succeeded in stretching their resources to do more with less and that core services have not suffered from the budget cuts,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

“The mayor has given the public the impression that these cuts have taken place without a significant impact on services in the libraries,” said Ray Markey, president of New York Public Library Local 1930, which leafleted at the Mid-Manhattan Library, the 42nd Street Library and the New Amsterdam Branch Library. “This simply isn’t true. I guess the mayor doesn’t believe libraries provide ‘core services.’ ”

Mr. Markey pointed out that before these cuts, all of NYPL’s branches used to provide six-day services. “Now 67 of the 85 branches are open only five days a week,” he said. Millions of dollars in budget cuts and a hiring freeze imposed since October 2001 have devastated the staff.

“This means there are fewer children’s librarians. There are fewer young adult librarians. There is less staff available to help the public. There are longer lines. And the adult literacy programs can’t address the demand,” Mr. Markey said.
Brooklyn Library Local 1482 members leafleted at the main library at Grand Army Plaza and at the Brooklyn Heights Branch.

“When the public libraries were created two centuries ago, the dream was for everyone to have a branch in their neighborhood,” said Eileen Muller, president of Brooklyn Library Local 1482. “That dream is now being shattered. It’s a tragedy.” Ms. Muller said she was encouraged by the response of the media and patrons to the leafleting, expressing hope it would help generate public opposition to further cuts.

“The leafleting was also a morale booster for our members, who are upset about the decline in services and stressed out by their deteriorating working conditions,” Ms. Muller said. “It was nice to see the three locals working together with a common message. By being united, we are going to have a much better chance of preventing a further erosion of
library services.”