Citizens Defending Libraries: PHOTO & VIDEO GALLERY: April 8, 2014 Rally Outside BPL Trustees Meeting

This page is being updated.

In addition, the text of the open letter Citizens Defending Libraries presented to the Brooklyn Public Library that day, together with an account of how the trustees meeting that day talked about advancing the sale and shrinkage of libraries in the trustee meeting that day, see: April 8, 2014 Open Letter from CDL To Brooklyn Public Library Trustees Delivered At Trustees Meeting.

x

Library Defenders to BPL Trustees: No False Scarcity! (Click through to YouTube Channel site for best viewing)

At a few minute before 6:00 PM, some of the protestors have now gone inside to the 5:30 PM BPL trustees meeting that, starting late, has yet to begin- This is the view from the trustees board meeting room of those protestors still on the street before they disband for the day. Text of the letter delivered and a report on the trustees meeting is available here.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Citizens Defending Libraries urges de Blasio administration to help the Brooklyn Public Library pay for $300 million in repairs for leaky roofs and crumbling interiors Brooklyn library honchos announced plans in February to hawk the city-owned building at 280 Cadman Plaza West to a private developer in order to build a ground-floor library topped with condos. by Reuven Blau Tuesday, April 8, 2014, 2:00 AM

"Libraries cost very little money and they more than pay for themselves in economic benefit," said Michael D.D. White, cofounder of the library advocacy group.

"If the city spent a fraction of the budget that the public would like to see spent, their problem would be having to buy more libraries rather than selling off and shrinking them."

Brooklyn News 12 ran coverage throughout the evening

The New12 Brooklyn segment ran many times. Here is the clip that ran for most of the afternoon and evening:

News 12 Brooklyn Highlights BPL Trustees Protest (click through to YouTube Channel for best viewing)

Late into the evening the library responded and and their point of view was inserted. However, as you'll note, all of the points the library tried ot make were anticipated and addressed in the letter delivered to the trustees and up on our website.
x

$300 million? $82 million? Much of this would be covered if the NYPL wasn't looking to spend $350 million to maybe even about $500 million to sell and shrink libraries, asking for $150 million in new taxpayer money to sell and shrink libraries.

. . . because Bloomberg, wanting to sell libraries, intentionally underfunded them

A private "development partner" who gets all the benefit while the public sheds assets and suffers the risks, loss and disruptions. The "new" branch would be a small fraction of the original size and largely bookless with space shifted underground

The divide and conquer strategy is to knock off the libraries one at a time. The BPL strategic plan specifically says the goal is to "leverage"all the BPL real estate. There are sixty libraries in the system. Meanwhile, at the trustees meeting there was a lot of focus was on real estate.

The Brooklyn Paper: Book lovers to new libary honcho: Hands off the Brooklyn Heights branch
By Matthew Perlman, April 9, 2014

"Libraries are at the core of the democratic process," said Ruth Eiss, a resident of Brooklyn Heights for 40 years. "I'm incensed. I'm furious. It gets my blood boiling."

The group Citizens Defending Libraries organized the demonstration. Michael White, a founder of the group, hand-delivered a letter to the library system's board of trustees, which was meeting in the library, stating that the Heights redevelopment threatens the foundations of civic society.

"Selling, shrinking libraries, putting their resources out of reach, leads to a vicious cycle of decreased democracy and opportunity," the letter reads.

x
NY1 covered us, (we are looking to locate the NY1 interview Nidia gave in Spanish)