Closing Time: Reduced NYPL Hours Burden Readers

In what has become an unfortunate annual tradition, the 42nd Street Library will be closed on Sundays for the remainder of the summer. With the Mid-Manhattan Library currently undergoing renovations, readers now have fewer opportunities to consult books and reference materials over the weekend. Instead, library patrons are redirected to the woefully inadequate 53rd Street Library, which has neither the collections nor the space to accommodate the research needs of the public.

Meanwhile, the second floor corridor will undergo construction work that will transform a series of underutilized rooms into a new “scholar center.” Opening additional rooms is a welcome step but does not address the most pressing concerns of library users. In numerous surveys and public meetings, users have made expanded hours a top priority.

If there are advantages for some to building a learning center and “scholar center,” they cannot compare to the benefits for all of increased operating hours for the General Research Division. For this reason, we have repeatedly called on NYPL officials to expand hours at 42nd Street, especially now that the building is undergoing a massive $317 million renovation.

Both the city and the library’s trustees must ensure the library has the adequate funding it needs so it can stay open longer. Since 2004, NYPL’s operating budget for research libraries has only increased by $12 million. Despite the success of the “Invest in Libraries” fundraising campaign, NYPL leaders have shown scant appetite for requesting additional operating funds for the research libraries. With private contributions making up 36% of the operating budget for research libraries, NYPL trustees must fund expanded hours with the same largesse they have shown for major capital expansions that offer prestigious naming rights.

When Sunday service first returned to NYPL’s central research library in 2004 after a 34 year hiatus, it marked a turning point in the deplorable decline in operating hours that began during the 1970s budget crisis.

It’s time to permanently restore Sunday service year-round and expand library hours across the board. It’s time to invest in research libraries.