Friday, August 06, 2010

Let 'em Eat Kindles

Camden Closing Library System: "New Jersey's most impoverished city will close all three branches of its public library at year's end unless a rescue can be pulled off,

Camden's library board says the libraries won't be able to afford to stay open past Dec. 31 because of budget cuts from the city government. The city had its subsidy from the state cut.

The library board president says the library system, which opened in 1904, is preparing to donate, sell or destroy its collections, including 187,000 books."

6 comments:

Todd Mason said...

Rotten news. Now I feel I have to try to do something about it, too.

Charles Gramlich said...

That really saddens me.

pattinase (abbott) said...

No book stores, no libraries. Is this the new Dark Ages?

Jerry House said...

Apocalypse now?

Richard R. said...

Illiteracy now, or soon. Who among us doesn't remember getting books form the library when he/she was a kid? Meanwhile I bet the city and state politicians are not having their pay and benefits cut. It's shameful.

Todd Mason said...

Some are, Rich. But the most fiscally irresponsible of the three major candidates for Governor won, the Republican as opposed to the clumsy incumbent Democrat and the insurgent independent ex-Republican whose fiscal plan was the basis of his campaign (but that wasn't enough), and New Jersey's property-tax-heavy budget is a large part of why. Which in turn doesn't help Camden, one of the poorest cities in the state or the country per capita, even before the depression in prop values.