Dec 17
Author’s Hometown Axes Libraries
The hometown of John Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men and East of Eden, is taking a drastic measure to deal with a budget shortfall: they’re closing down their libraries, including the main branch named after the author, according to a report from Reuters.
When voters rejected a plan to raise local sales tax by half-a-cent, the town of Salinas, California, found itself $8 million in the red. Closing down the three libraries will make up $3 million of that deficit.
It’s a shame when any community has to shut down its libraries. Most communities don’t have libraries operating on full hours these days, anyway. But even though libraries may be an easy target for cost-cutting city planners, one must wonder what kind of message such a plan sends to young people.
