Corona residents and elected officials gathered at the Lefrak City Library Saturday to protest proposed budget cuts and reduction in library hours.  Children held handmade signs in both English and Spanish expressing their dismay at proposed budget cuts and their parents stood behind them.

"These folks are here today on a Saturday when their library is not open and they want to be inside the library and we want them to be inside, but we can't do that if we get cut 25 percent," said Jennifer Manley, community affairs manager for the Queens Library system. "We can't pay our staff if we get a $26 million reduction," she added.
 
   The Lefrak City branch is one of 14 in Queens that reduced its hours in February due to budget problems. It is open five days per week. "If these new cuts come through, Saturdays are pretty much gone everywhere but Jamaica, which is Central," Manley said. 

   In early May Mayor Mike Bloomberg's executive budget plan will present a clearer picture of what potential cuts may look like, Manley said. Then the City Council and the mayor will negotiate a final budget, but the mayor is currently pushing cuts across the board. "When we talk about the budget we talk a lot about numbers .... but what it's really about is all these kids and all these people who can't get inside," Manley said. 

   Kathleen Smith, a member of St. Pauls'Action Ministry, helped organize the rally because libraries have always been important to her. "I'm here for 40 years in this community and I remember with my son in the ‘70s, we lived in the library ... and he is such an avid reader today and it was because of this library here," Smith said.
 
   State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights) attended the rally and showed his support with a $50,000 grant allocation to the Queens Library. Peralta said city and state deficits make it difficult to restore all city services that have been cut, but funding libraries remain among his financial priorities. 

   "There is a $9.2 billion - some say $10 billion - budget gap that we need to fill, but we are working hard to make sure that we restore many of the cuts, libraries being one of them, but also education, healthcare," Peralta said. We also are pushing for property tax relief, we are also pushing for job creation." The money for those services will be derived partially from closing corporate tax loopholes and from state borrowing, he said. Albany is still negotiating its budget, which was due April 1 under the law. 

   "Are we going to be able to restore everything? Realistically we are not. We are facing a very tight budget, but we need to restore the core services that average New Yorkers use. It's going to be probably one of the most toughest years with the exception of next year. Unless our revenue projections improve, we may have a worse year next year," Peralta said. 

   Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said he was proud of rally organizers and thought he could make a positive impact during budget negotiations based upon the feelings of his constituents. "I think it's really important for a City Council member to be here because we are going to be deciding on how to prioritize the funding that we need for everything citywide, and libraries are at the top of my list. I was glad that the community organized itself and pulled together around this issue," Dromm said. 

   Smith, with her grey hair and bright eyes, remembered simpler times. "There was no Internet then, no anything, just the library. You take that away and you take so much away from the kids. It's just the ability to read ... It is so important and it just gives them that foundation for their education. Once you get them started they will go forever," she said optimistically. 

Read more about QCUA and this event.