Mayor of poor NJ city offers library rescue plan

[babylonsister]

Mayor of poor NJ city offers library rescue plan
By BETH DeFALCO, Associated Press


The mayor of one of the nation's poorest cities is working on a plan to keep the city's three libraries open and available to residents after the library board announced last week they would be closed due to budget cuts.

Camden Mayor Dana Redd said Monday that city officials will look to join the county library system and allow patrons to check out books from the library at Rutgers University's Camden campus.

The City Council must approve joining the county system, and there is no guarantee that in doing so the libraries will remain open. There is also no guarantee that the 21 city library employees will keep their jobs.

The library board said it would close the libraries by the end of the year because of a nearly 70 percent cut in library funding this year.

Officials at the American Library Association believe Camden's library system would have been first in the U.S. with multiple branches to close entirely.

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http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2010/08/09/D9HG5ROO0_us_camden_no_libraries/index.html