Is it Portland City Council’s $30,000 cut to the library budget? Is it the Portland Public Library‘s hasty decision? Or is it the economy, stupid?
Either way, The Portland Public Library plans to close The Reiche Library, the only neighborhood branch in Portland’s working class and low income West End. 60+ kids, parents, seniors and other citizens turned out for a near spontaneous protest of the closure.
PPL director Steve Podgajny bravely stepped into the fray of citizens who were asking, “why Reiche”, “where will our kids go?” and “why not cut from other branches?” Podgajny’s answers were about budgets, circulation rates, and tough choices, but no one walked away satisfied.
I have heard of further changes to children’s services in the city as a result of budget cuts and the main branch’s reconstruction that combined with the closure of Reiche will SERIOUSLY curtail children’s book services in the city.
Adults can wait a few years for budgets and branches to shake out, kids CANNOT. A few years of limited access to free children’s literature can have a huge negative impact on a child’s development and literacy skills. HEALTHY LITERACY = EASY ACCESS.
I urge everyone in the city to attend the PPL Trustee Meeting at 4:00 PM on May 14th at the Main Branch. Changes to Children’s Services will be on the table not only for the West End, but for the WHOLE CITY.
