Chicago Public Library Regional Branches, Facing Budget Cuts, Now Closed On Mondays

The Chicago Public Library announced via its Facebook page Wednesday that, apparently effective immediately, all of its branch locations, save two plus the Harold Washington Library Center, will be closed on Mondays.

NBC Chicago reports that only two regional libraries -- Sulzer in Lincoln Square and Woodson in Washington Heights -- will remain open seven days per week. The branch libraries will now be open only five days per week, during varying hours, as listed on the CPL's website.

The CPL tweeted Wednesday that the closures were due to "a cut to our 2012 budget which resulted in some layoffs." The move, the CPL's tweet read, "allows us to maintain services with fewer staff."

As the Center Square Journal pointed out, some commenters on the CPL's Facebook announcement indicate that other changes have begun with the new year at the city's libraries, including new reductions to the number of holds permitted per patron. The have since been removed from the page.

The closures were the result of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's drastic reduction in library funding as a part of his first-ever city budget. Emanuel's initial budget proposal proposed a $10 million reduction in funding for the city's libraries, entailing widely reduced hours and staff layoffs.

The proposal was met with community ire -- and the mayor backtracked, slightly, by restoring $3.3 million of the library funding. The funds would allow the city's libraries to remain open six days during the summer and when children are on winter vacations, and still trim $6.7 million from CPL's budget. Emanuel's budget was approved unanimously by the City Council in November.

The cuts inspired the formation of a Facebook community titled "Save Chicago Public Libraries and Librarian Jobs." The page has attracted nearly 2,200 likes since it launched.

Related on HuffPost:

Comments

[UFOerica]

02:02 AM on 05/02/2012

100 layoffs and short staff. Support and visit your local library/library website!

[BOSOLA]

09:04 AM on 01/08/2012

The Mayor is being a grade A vindictive jerk. And he doesn't care about the children of Chicago. When Daley cut back the branches to one shift a day the library administration made sure that nearby libraries did not have the same shift (10-6 or 12-8) so patrons could go to a nearby branch if their local branch was not opened. But with branches being closed on Monday there will be nowhere to go. And Monday is also the busiest day in any branch library. So Tuesdays will be very very busy. With the staff cutbacks don't expect many librarians to be able to do more than the most minimal reference service. They will all be working the circulation desk. Everybody should call the Mayor's office and their alderman. Remember one of the first things Daley did when he was elected mayor was to drastically cut library sevices. The negative reaction was so great that not only were the cut hours reinstated. Daley became a huge proponent of libraries.

[mphalen]

12:36 PM on 01/06/2012

Where are the kids going to go after school on Mondays? Many kids go to the library after school until their parents come home.

[Romano54]

12:41 PM on 01/06/2012

Hang on the corner, get in trouble, drop out, and won't need libraries!

[corwin]

01:00 AM on 01/07/2012

Diffidently, I have to point out to you folks-yet again-attacking the Potemkin targets of the 'aldermen,corruption,Sarah Palin,.etc-begs the real point.Atlas is Shrugging. Chicago is collapsing. And the situation hasn't triggered any insight in most of you.Thst's kind of strange

[Romano54]

12:17 PM on 01/06/2012

Chi: Where in my post did I say corruption? If anything, poor judgment is what I might call it. I also was thinking that you were going to say the decision was made before the mayor moved to Chicago. What was I thinking? So there were no libraries on the south or west side as opposed to this north side building?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-farmer/chicago-library-cuts_b_1029792.html

Does the north side not already receive a disproportionate amount of funds and services?

[jivetalkin1]

12:05 PM on 01/06/2012

Shame on Rham. He is gonna screw up his first term so badly that he will never be close to an office again.
Next!!!!

[speedydan79]

11:52 AM on 01/06/2012

What's the city budget for garbage collection? Or for the numerous planters filled with seasonal flowers that were so beloved by Mayor Daley? Or for Burke's body guards which he still has? Or for all the pet projects and contracts awarded to friends and family of counsil members? I guess the library and the reading public just don't have any clout with our new mayor.

[corwin]

12:55 AM on 01/07/2012

It's almost as if the Smart People were right.By the way,are they all in Austin ?

[jufrgs]

11:12 AM on 01/06/2012

Of all the places to close a Library at anytime............................. Chicago

[citizenlegisators]

10:35 AM on 01/06/2012

I have no problem with libraries being closed 1 day a week, but why not Sunday or use a method of closing certain branches on different days

AND CUT THE PERKS, EXPENSES, CARS AND STAFFS OF THE ELECTED POLITICIANS

[citizenlegisators]

10:29 AM on 01/06/2012

Chicago has twice as many aldermen as LA and NY have councilpeople
Chicago , Cook County Illinois..... The CABAL of corruption , nepotism , patronage and graft that is beyond the pale
-----------------------------

[Pam512]

10:09 AM on 01/06/2012

There are 14 libraries in the county I live in here in Georgia. Early last year they said they were going to close 11 of them. 11 out of 14. Except for the school calendar, this garnered more outrage than I have ever seen. The commissioners backed down and all of the libraries are still open. Granted, they have shorter hours, but this is one time the people won. I will say that a lot of people on come in to use the computers, but I always see people sitting at the tables with books, taking notes. Libraries are an essential part of our society.

[Highly Opinionated]

09:52 AM on 01/06/2012

Don't remove any city buraucrats in the uber political city of corruption. Oh nooooo. Close libraries.

[Highly Opinionated]

09:56 AM on 01/06/2012

I guess I better correct my typo beforre the liberal spelling cops jump me. "bureaucrats"

[phdpamela]

09:27 AM on 01/06/2012

This saves what? The people working in the library are not hourly workers, so it's not cutting anything there. Good thing I don't live in Chicago, because I'd be checking out whether or not anything changed aside from the door being locked. Whats left..the flourescent lighting and heat? It's known as well, that many of the homeless population seek refuge during the cold days in library's. Yeah, I know, that wasn't a thought to consider.

[setanta54]

09:31 AM on 01/06/2012

let the homeless go and congregate elsewhere as if there's no alternative ? they have drop in shelters etc.

[phdpamela]

09:55 AM on 01/06/2012

Remember you said that, on your deathbed. I have just insured that you will.

[ellwood145]

09:03 AM on 01/06/2012

I lost faith in the library when they allowed porn to be available. Get a starbucks jolt and off to the old Library for a little debbie does dallas

[mavpay]

09:26 AM on 01/06/2012

ell: You're not not a library patron, are you?

[neocom43]

06:29 AM on 01/06/2012

For probably the most corrupt city in America, this is quite a feat. I'm surprised the public sector unions in the Windy City allowed such a thing. Of course library branches must be closed. The city's nearly broke, for God's sake!! The boobs in Washington need to do the same thing.

[mavpay]

09:46 AM on 01/06/2012

neo: Rush to your nearest library. Get a library card. Check out the following books:
"The American Dream vs. The Gospel of Wealth" by Norton Garfinkle
"Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves At Government Expense (And Stick YOU With the Bill)" by David Cay Johnston
"The Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Undermine Democracy, Government and the Free Market" by Janine R. Wedel

By the way, be sure to thank YOUR local librarians. They usually have advanced degrees in Library Science, are knowledgeable, well informed and are more than happy to SERVE you. At least, that's ALWAYS been my experience.

Sincerely,

Happy Library Patron!

[neocom43]

12:55 PM on 01/06/2012

Hey, you're preaching to the choir. I am a huge fan of libraries. I haven't bought a book in years but read at least one a week. It's the only way I, as a middle class tax paying responsible citizens, can get something for my tax money. All I was saying is that IF there is NO money, which is the case in almost all government entities, then you'd better start cutting. Libraries should not be exempt.

[mavpay]

01:34 PM on 01/06/2012

neo: I don't know what you have been reading. This SCHEME is part of a master economic experiment that has NOTHING to do with "almost all government entities having NO money." Free-market-suppy-side-free-trade-anti-government economists like Milton Friedman unleashed this diabolical disaster at the Chicago Scool of Economics in the 1950's. He and his "colleagues" have trained economists world-wide to hatch their plans on other nations and their unsuspecting victims. This has been part of a 30 year plan to bankrupt America. The GOP (Greedy One Percent) and their cohorts and willing partners, the Corporate Democrats, are pushing though legislation that benefits special interests at the expense of the vast majority of Americans. While most are being distracted by divisive NONSENSE, the "dynamic duo" are in agreement on MANY issues. Don't be fooled!

[FredVenice]

06:23 AM on 01/06/2012

good start, lower taxes and eliminate most of the government, hope you vote for the one, honest man who wants to help us get back to what it was like 100 years ago . go ron paul