Mayor Giuliani Promises
Big-Apple Library Largess
In his January 8 State of the City address, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani pledged fiscal support of an unspecified amount toward the construction of an additional eight floors atop the present Mid-Manhattan Library, the main circulating library of New York Public Library.
The announcement was a departure from an often-stormy relationship Giuliani has had with the library community for much of his administration. As recently as last year, members of the City Council persuaded the mayor to restore $42 million he had proposed slashing from NYPL’s FY2001 budget and add an extra $10 million. The mayor, whose term expires this year, continues to resist efforts backed by union and library officials to significantly hike staff salaries to stem the system’s dramatically high turnover rate.
A January 8 NYPL statement estimates that the Mid-Manhattan Library renovation and expansion will cost $120 million. The 117,000-square-foot addition is expected to double patronage, attracting some 8,000 visitors a day.
Giuliani also promised some $31.5 million to purchase modest collections of some 300 books for each of the city’s 21,000 K–8 classrooms.
Posted January 15, 2001.
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