City Leaders Approve Budget Despite Concerns About Library System
Demonstrators stand outside Birmingham's city hall while council members discuss the city's budget.
Protesters who have been fighting to save Birmingham’s public libraries say they feel ignored by city officials. Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside city hall Tuesday night, just hours before council members approved Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposed city budget for 2021. The budget includes nearly 250 furloughs, with more than half coming from the city’s library system.
The demonstrators called for city leaders to “fund books, not bullets.”
“We are spending $11.2 million more on our police department while cutting almost that, if not more, from the Birmingham Public Library system,” said Jamie Foster, a member of People’s Budget Birmingham.
Woodfin said cuts to the library are necessary to make up a $63 million shortfall due to the coronavirus pandemic. During a budget work session prior to the council meeting, City Councilor Steven Hoyt voiced his frustration .
“I know propaganda when I see it,” Hoyt said. “Because if, in fact, you’re going down the road of temporary then why so many layoffs?”
The city council passed the $412 million dollar budget with language that calls for furloughing more than 150 library employees. Foster said that hurts the poor, as well as young people because librarians offer an essential service to the community.
“They help as job counselors and tutors,” he said. “They provide a direct service, not only catalogs and archives. It provides so many resources, not just for those who are disenfranchised, but for cultural memory here in Birmingham.”
Librarian Alice Speake, of the Irondale Public Library, said library closures in Birmingham affect the entire Jefferson County Library Cooperative.
“There’s going to be a whole surge of people from other libraries coming into Irondale,” Speake said. “All I can think about is what are the logistics going to be for when all these other patrons have to move from their libraries to a new one.”
The Birmingham Public Library’s downtown location has reopened to the public, but city officials say that is the only location open at this time. A few others will continue to offer curbside service.
Lies and consequences lend new weight to ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2
The second season of HBO's hit zombie series takes what works the first season and turns it upside down, mining new drama from the uncertainty.
More than 30 people killed in Russian missile attack on Ukrainian city of Sumy
More than 30 people were killed in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, officials said.
A retrial of Sarah Palin’s case against ‘New York Times’ begins Monday
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has the rare opportunity to retry her defamation case against The New York Times even though she lost it — twice in a 24-hour-period — in early 2022.
Will the SAVE Act make it harder for married women to vote? We ask legal experts
Legal experts say states could help married women who have changed their last names by accepting documents like a legal decree or a marriage certificate, but it might not fix the issue for all.
An American composer’s biological matter creates new music from beyond the grave
An art installation in Perth, Australia, seeks to extend the musical output of the late experimental composer Alvin Lucier, and asks interesting questions about the nature of creativity.
DOJ ends environmental justice agreement in Alabama county citing Trump
Justice Department officials said they were ending the agreement reached with the state regarding wastewater issues in Lowndes County. Federal officials said the decision follows President Donald Trump’s executive order forbidding federal agencies from pursuing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
