Why Is New York City Planning to Sell and Shrink Its Libraries?

Defend our libraries, don't defund them. . . . . fund 'em, don't plunder 'em

Mayor Bloomberg defunded New York libraries at a time of increasing public use, population growth and increased city wealth, shrinking our library system to create real estate deals for wealthy real estate developers at a time of cutbacks in education and escalating disparities in opportunity. It’s an unjust and shortsighted plan that will ultimately hurt New York City’s economy and competitiveness.

It should NOT be adopted by those we have now elected to pursue better policies.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

WFUV Covers Citizens Defending Libraries And The Sale Of New York City Libraries

Citizens Defending Libraries is featured on the new episode of WFUV Radio's “Issues Tank”- “Libraries: They Are a Changin'” December 28, 2017.

WFUV is the New York public radio station that broadcasts from Fordham University at 90.7 on the FM dial.

You can listen via iTunes to the Issues Tank podcast.  Or, we suggest you list to the episode on the WFUV Issues Tank  website.

They made us sound really good!*  Our interview is the second half of this episode devoted to libraries.
(* NOTE: This is the first time we have been on radio when it wasn’t a live interview or just sound clips.  The editing, to which we have not previously been subject and which makes us sound so good, probably enhances the listening experience considerably.)
The entire Issues Tank episode is about the future of libraries and while we don’t agree completely with all of the summing up, it is all worth listening to.  The interview with Michael D. D. White that is the second half of the program starts at a few second in from 14 minutes if you want to use the slider.

(NOTE- The public reaction and objections to the NYPL's presentation of the "Master Plan" for the alteration of the 42nd Street referred to at one point by interviewer Kacie Candela is available for viewing at our YouTube channel:   NYPL 2nd Presentation of "Master Plan" Dec 7, 2017 Part2.)

This is the first time we have been on WFUV.  We have been on WBAI, another New York City public radio station quite a few times and have a page up collecting the coverage.  See: WBAI Reporting About The Sale and Shrinkage of NYC Libraries- “Behind News,” "The Morning Show," Plus News Reports.

WNYC (WNYC FM and AM and WQXR), perhaps New York City’s best known public radio station, takes an appreciable amount of financing from corporate sponsors (as you will be told when you listen to the station), including very significant amounts from the pro-library sales Revson Foundation.   WNYC has provided virtually no coverage of the library sales from our point of view except for Leonard Lopate Show coverage of the NYPL Central Library Plan by journalist Scott Sherman whose articles in The Nation Magazine evolved into a book.  WNYC has since fired Leonard Lopate and there is virtually no equivalent direct coverage of Citizens Defending Libraries on the station.

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