Free Library is understaffed, undervalued and budget cuts won’t help | Opinion

The Free Library of Philadelphia has fallen into an appalling state. Our system of 54 libraries is understaffed, inadequately maintained and undervalued. Library workers have offered invaluable digital and in-person services and programs to Philadelphians throughout the pandemic. We’ve connected with children and families virtually through storytimes and other activities, and physically through meal, book, and activity kit giveaways. We’ve connected small business owners, job seekers, unhoused Philadelphians, and returning citizens with information and resources critical to their survival. We’ve kept hope alive by providing books and other library materials through curbside material pickup at libraries throughout the city. And we’ve done it all in a time of great stress and anxiety.

Between 2009 and 2018, the Free Library of Philadelphia lost 22% of its workforce, and staffing numbers dropped drastically again in 2020. Free Library staff members have become magicians who make programs and services available with even the barest of resources. But burnout and scarcity hide just below the surface. Our city deserves a proactive library system that values its workers as its greatest asset. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic have only highlighted systemic problems that have existed for years.

» READ MORE: Philly is facing a $450 million budget gap and the pain won’t stop there

Years of austerity budgets mean that our staffing levels were desperately low before the pandemic and now our numbers are decimated. In his book Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea, Mark Blyth calls austerity “dangerous” because “it doesn’t work in practice, [and] it relies on the poor paying for the mistakes of the rich.” There’s no money, officials lament. We can’t create money out of nothing, they cry! Yet major corporations and institutions like Comcast and the University of Pennsylvania are allowed to profit off the backs of the poor, while library workers, like other underfunded and undervalued public service workers, are asked to save humanity.

We don’t have to accept, as Mayor Kenney recently proposed, public services of lesser quantity and quality. If we re-envision our city’s tax structures, get rid of the 10-year tax abatement, and institute PILOTs, we can do what’s truly best for Philadelphians — prioritize the educational and cultural public services that embrace our shared humanity.

The coronavirus pandemic forced us to change the way we serve and connect with our communities, and inspired creativity and energy in library workers to re envision our future. We’ve learned to articulate that our value lies in the relationships we build, the connections we make, the information we provide, and the futures we inspire. What if we had a fully staffed and funded Free Library system? What if workers system-wide had the time to proactively plan innovative programming, without neglecting core services and programs? What if every neighborhood library had full-time workers dedicated to afterschool programming? What if all neighborhood libraries had enough staff on their rosters that they wouldn’t have to close when one person was sick? What if a restored materials budget allowed shorter than six months (or longer) wait times for popular books? What if computer labs were able to be used because there were actually enough staff to open them?

» READ MORE: Free Library employees returned to work to find expired hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes

Public libraries are known as welcoming, reliable places with friendly, professional workers, ideal for an elderly person who needs help resetting their passwords or just someone to chat with, or a desperate student who needs a reference librarian and a computer to succeed at school. Full-time library workers are an essential part of this picture. Libraries are the heart of a neighborhood, central hubs of activity that keep young people safe and occupied, seniors and neighbors connected, and much more. In a city with only seven trained school librarians (as of last year), public libraries are relied upon even more heavily to provide critical information literacy instruction to Philadelphians of all ages. Restoring service positions (such as school librarians) in all of our city departments must be a priority for our city.

As budget season looms, we call on all decision makers to remember that the human capacity to “do more with less” has limits. Fully funding public services means listening to the workers embedded in our neighborhoods, who hear the day-to-day concerns of Philadelphians, and who have the creativity and experience to meet crucial needs. Investing in public services is the only way forward and out of the devastation the coronavirus pandemic has wrought upon us.

Judith Everitt is a retired Reference Librarian in New Jersey public and school libraries and the president of the Friends of the Philadelphia City Institute Library. Erin Hoopes is a Free Library of Philadelphia worker.