Excerpt: Library Director Priscilla Gardner has said the city will only give the library $6 million this year to run its 10 branches. That's down from $7.7 million last year and below the $8 million she requested.
Under state law, the city must give the library $7.4 million, but that includes pension contributions for employees and the library's debt service, which the city pays.
Library patrons, staff members and representatives from the library's various programs asked the City Council to fully fund the budget.
Mary Quinn, principal librarian and manager of the Glenn D. Cunningham Branch, said the economy has placed an increased demand on libraries.
Quinn, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3612, said the circulation was 180,000 in 2008 and jumped to 209,000 in 2009. While 2010 isn't over yet, the circulation to date is 218,000.
180,000 circulation in 2008 for a city of just under a quarter million population? According to a 2008 statistical spreadsheet at the New Jersey State Library website, Quinn seems to have miscalculated. Sadly, Jersey City's statistics still don't measure up.
Related article:
More bad news from New Jersey. (8/9/2010)
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