Dear Council and Mayor Cantrell:
I just found out about the City's proposed 75% budget cut to our public libraries. While Mayor Cantrell has been threatening to do this since the pandemic, I'm shocked there hasn't been more transparency about this vote today. Public libraries are CRITICAL to our community's health and well-being - as much as the USPS and more than a militarized police - yet here they are on your chopping block. I'm appalled that our Mayor and City Council think this is good management, and I demand the library's funding not be cut and that our millage not be reduced. At the very least, this should be an initiative we can vote on at the ballot box. We voted for a millage increase to expand our library access just a few years ago, and I guarantee you the city of New Orleans has NOT changed our mind on this.
I'm a child of poverty and was literally raised by public libraries. Without books and librarians to guide me, I wouldn't have built the self-esteem or curiosity necessary to transcend the domestic violence I endured. I've had true love affairs with libraries across America, the Alvar Library in my neighborhood is my deepest. I can cite hundreds of scholastic articles proving the deep community value of public libraries, instead please see the library through my eyes:
Through phases of chronic illness - including my current recovery from Covid19 - my charming Alvar library has kept me connected, nourished. To pick up a stack of books and check in on my favorite librarians who know me by name is a lifeline. Through bouts of unemployment, I've used free library computers and fax machines for job searches and communication with government agencies. I see neighbors there, we socialize and build relationships. Poetry workshops in the garden; kids get free snacks and story-time; parents get a break; seniors and the unhoused get one, too. Libraries are a SANCTUARY, a truly democratic public place where gathering can happen without money. This community connection and engagement is CRITICAL for the well-being of our people, city, country! Yet they've been under attack in New Orleans during this pandemic like no other public institution.
Under current management, the pandemic response toward employees at our libraries has been shameful. The graphic essay, "Librarians Of The World Unite!", The Nib, June 2020, outlined the horrible environment they've been forced to endure. Library employees demanded the library shut down for sanitization, and that a humane pandemic response be created to protect library workers and the community, and despite overwhelming public support, they were ignored. Schools closed but libraries were forced to stay open with no hazard supplies, pay or paid pandemic/sick leave. Despite the risk and terrible leadership, librarians kept working, have been fierce in their devotion to the community by re-opening, and now are being asked to open more widely for after school sessions with children. Yet our Mayor and City Council continue to characterize them as "lazy and expendable". !!! You've clearly fallen out of touch with the people - we demand you hear us now.
To cut off library access, especially during a pandemic, is heartless and short-sighted. The hundreds of millions of dollars funding a militarized police department that has illegally tear-gassed non-violent protestors, and whose policies continue to fail to manage crime in a genuinely healing way, can withstand a minor budget cut to keep the institution that literally PREVENTS CRIME AND SAVES LIVES through literacy and community engagement open. Will Mayor Cantrell and our City Council capitalize on this golden opportunity for deep coalition building through community support and enrichment? Or will you fail to see that this is the easiest way to get re-elected? Your vote today will decide our votes in the future. Remember: I was empowered by libraries, and empowered people campaign and vote.
Sincerely,
X