This past Saturday, the central library in downtown San Diego was closed for the first time in 18 years because the city no longer has enough money to operate it on Saturdays, reported Liam Dillon of voiceofsandiego.org.
Cuts to the city's budget have been coming with increased frequency as city officials put into effect changes designed to resolve the massive $179 million shortfall. The city had promised to eliminate various positions and to cut library hours.
Now, those cuts in hours have come to the central library.
What has yet to be determined, though, is how—or whether—this will impact plans for the so-called schoobrary, which is the city's planned school-library hybrid that will be build downtown and replace the current central library. Plans for the schoobrary arose, not least of all, because of budgetary requirements that prompted the city to look for ways to combine funds from two different building projects to make the new downtown library financially feasible.
Public officials seem to have concluded that it makes sense to proceed with plans to expand library facilities, while at the same time reducing services.
When the San Diego budget is hurting for money so bad that it can't keep the libraries we have open for business, it is not unreasonable to ask why the city wants to spend so much money on a brand new one.
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