From the Editors
April 13, 2005
Salinas, a city in Northern California, is the birthplace of John Steinbeck. In many of his novels, especially East of Eden, it sits gently behind the narrative and glows like heaven. Salinas has been in the press lately for its library system, which, like many systems in the nation, has been facing budget problems. The Salinas City Council voted to reduce the library hours and to promote a fundraising effort aiming to pull in $500,000 in donations by the end of the year. If that effort fails, City Council will close all three facilities, and that would make Salinas the largest city in America without a library.
Without Steinbeck to use as an ironic element, the story would not be getting the same level of press. Perhaps it’s a blessing, then, similar to a celebrity endorsement on a common disease. Salinas will probably get the added donations as a result of this exposure, but that only solves the immediate financial problem. It does little for the local economic tension that perpetuates the problem, and it does less for the similar problems affecting city and state budgets across the country that allow for serious reductions in a major city like Detroit. It also does nothing for an odd situation like Pittsburgh.
The Carnegie Library System has an operating budget and a capital budget. The former is for general funds that keep the library working; the latter is for building improvements, renovations and repairs. In 2001, the library decided to pursue a major renovation project and issued a public bond to raise the funds. Law requires that funds raised from the bond can only be used for the capital budget, which originally would have been fine, but because of the economic decline that accelerated after the attacks on September 11, the state reduced operating funds by 50 per cent. Since 2002, that has manifest in more than $50 million lost. On Tuesday, the Squirrel Hill branch of the library will celebrate its grand re-opening in a particularly bittersweet fashion: a “revitalized” building facing an economic crisis.
The library is a public equalizer. Like the bus and the radio, it allows those who “don’t have” to maybe, possibly find a way to “get.” That’s obvious. Citizens and governments don’t need to be told that the creation of a great American writer is dependant on libraries, and they don’t need to be told that buses, public radio and public television provide those same opportunities. The Steinbeck/Salinas irony is a reminder, though. And the strange legal flaw that will be celebrated with great fanfare on Forbes Avenue is an ironic reminder as well.
–Eric Lidji
