Library woes

Published April 28, 2010 at 5:52 p.m.
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In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches.

In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches. The legislators should back off. This is brinksmanship at its most destructive, short-sighted, and irresponsible.

Regarding the Boston Public Library, there is plenty to be angry about. The trustees — whose authority derives from state law, but who are appointed by the mayor — were negligent to have let this budget crisis develop, or at least to mature in the peculiar way it unfolded. Theirs are sins of omission, not commission. Too often, they’ve seen their constituency as City Hall, not the library-using public.

The underlying economic crisis affecting the nation is a fact. And the strains of municipal finance have been apparent for a long time — to anyone, that is, who has been paying attention.

In terms of funding, however, City Hall has not been actively punishing the library. From a fiscal point of view, the picture is one of benign neglect. That said, Mayor Tom Menino has stage-managed this crisis very effectively, ensuring minimal damage to the system while appearing to lay maximum blame at the trustees’ feet — and all with barely a public statement.

The misguided rebellion by state legislators is at least a healthy reminder that the library enjoys widespread support. If the trustees had spent the same amount of time and energy cultivating Beacon Hill relationships as they have in sucking up to Menino, the Boston Public Library might not be in the straits it is in today.

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