Um, City Council approves the budget and the labor contracts. Leaders should own up to their decisions. Proposing solutions is another option, where’s that?

The Seattle library system is a local gem. It’s innovative, adaptive to so many community services and needs. If you are lucky enough to afford to live here, the library immeasurably increases your quality of life (I personally have saved thousands $$$ on books, materials, and in-person events). This is NOT on employees.

"who never responded to my request for comment about the closures when the news broke"

Why should she?

‘Rivera Says the City's “Hiring Freeze” Is a “Buzzword” That Cannot Fully Explain the Staffing Shortage’

She’s entirely correct, as the Stranger’s own reporting has, once again, clearly shown:

“SPL technically does not have to adhere to the freeze since they are not housed under the Mayor’s Office, but he writes the budget, so SPL seems to think it’s best to cooperate.”

“Rivera also argued that if the Library spent less money on e-books, then it would have more money to hire staff and to keep doors open.”

Again, she was entirely correct:

‘E-books can cost three to five times more than their print equivalents, which limits SPL’s “buying power as demand shifts to online materials,”’

So, instead of having all patrons borrow books the old-fashioned way, the Library subordinates access for all to the convenience of patrons with the best personal tech. Why isn’t Stranger screaming about this as an equity issue?

Ever stopped into the downtown branch's men's room shortly after opening? SPL staff DO have to function as Social Workers.

Buy fewer E-Books. I won't notice.

If you can get everything that a library offers digitally, with a few keystrokes, then what is their function?

I am not suggesting that libraries will have no function and purpose going forward, but everyone is trying to have the library be what it historically has been in a world where we don't need to stack volumes of paper in one location to access the ideas printed on that paper.

We need to be having the discussion of what libraries should and will be in light of changes in how we aggregate and access information because of new tech.

@AHAB, SPL is two steps ahead of you. Libraries also offer research services, in-building Internet browsing (and outdoor WiFi!), literacy classes, and in-person events that support exchange of information and civil discourse. And let’s not torpedo the books just yet; hard copies are cheaper than e-books (for the licensing reasons mentioned in the article), and lots of research tells parents that children reading on paper is better learning than digital. I mean, yeah there’s stuff on the Internet, but the legitimacy of that content is questionable.