Mar 22nd, 2004
Seattle Public Library Closes
I went to the Seattle Public Library web site today because an invitation to attend the Grand Re-Opening Celebration for the West Seattle Branch of the SPL just arrived in the mail. The invite postcard says: ?For more information: www.spl.org?. Apparently the City Librarian and the Mayor will attend, plus the whole shindig is sponsored by Starbucks (among others). Sure I want more details!
Well, if you visit the site this week you are proudly greeted by a bold message declaring that the Library is closed from March 21-28 due to citywide budget cuts. I say good job SPL! Why try to mask cuts and just talk about how tight things are while quietly relying on volunteers to do all of your shelving? Kudos, SPL. They take your cash flow and you tell folks about it, loud and proud. Don?t hide it; put it on the table in front of folks! Too many libraries don?t make a big splash when they get a budgetary sack. Sure there are sticky politics, but this is beyond politics in my opinion.
The site also says: ?If you would like to leave a message for Library management or the Library Board, please call 206-386-4120.? I sure hope they get some supportive calls as well as the expected irate though pro-tax cut ranters.
7 Responses to “Seattle Public Library Closes”
GOOD for them!
All too often, after they cut library funds in favor of crony contracts or perks for the people who make the decisions, we’re told to keep smiling and pretend that it’s all for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
High time that somebody stands up and says that “the budget was cut and these are the consequences.”
Bravo!
When I go to the reception next week at the re-opened branch I’ll say just that to the mayor and the city librarian.
You do have to be careful, though!
I know.
I posted an announcements to our patrons after service cuts, announcing that the services (among the highest-ranked of all the services we offer) were cut due to lack of resources, we knew they were valued and the cut would cause inconvenience, and we have every plan of restoring them when resources become available. Just that–no vituperation, no nasty language, no reproaches, just the facts.
The patrons liked knowing what was going on. I got a lot of thanks for being honest.
Management, well…they informed me that henceforth, I wasn’t to communicate with patrons(or even my own department!) without getting boss approval. It was made clear that I’d not be the only one to lose my job if I didn’t spout the line of “it was a great decision to cut these services, all about giving people what they want, and it wasn’t about money at all.”
Ahh, you are the Lord (or Lady) of the dance of politics. It can actually be rather fun and at the least rewarding to do ?the dance? when you get good things done for something as pure as a Public Library. Even if you don?t like to dance.
Meeting the mayor will be interesting. I’ve held open houses with lots of mayors and board members and such, but have never gone to a shin dig like this in Seattle with ?my? mayor in ?my? neighborhood. Don?t come on too strong, outlast your welcome or talk too much. Be honest, concise and praise where applicable. What am I, talking to the mayor or asking a woman out on a date?! Before I?m done the library won?t have any of these week long closures and I?ll have the mayor calling me all the time. BAH HA HA!!!! 
It sounds like you did a fine job given your circumstances. You definitely were not providing “abusive censure” or “sustained, harshly abusive” or “invective” language. Can you tell I looked up “vituperation”? Great word!!
i read your post, but didn’t really realize the impact of what SPL had done until later when i had a little time and checked out spl.org to see how the new main library was coming along. unless i missed a link, they not only shut down the libraries, but they shut down the whole web site too. patrons can’t even place holds or check their records or get library times or do any of the other thousands of things that are possible with the library’s web site. that’s really shutting down e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g and good for them!
i heard that elliot shelkrot of the free library of philly system once, when faced with the closure of several branches, announced he would be closing the branches with the highest circulation and strongest friends groups knowing full well the public would never let that happen. that’s another great move.
So Philly has good points too?
Can you imagine the meetings and conversations and wrangling the director had to have/hold in order to make the “closing” idea work without stepping on toes? I’ll bet there are some helpful and interesting stories there.
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