New Yorkers love their libraries. So why are they always on the chopping block?

Hours after New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced yet another round of budget cuts that would affect public libraries, celebrated author Joyce Carol Oates issued a world-weary lament.

“[H]as anyone in the history of the world ever seen an announcement of budget cutbacks that did not include the word L I B R A R I E S,” she wrote last month on social media platform X.

Case in point: The recent $24 million cut prompted the end of seven-day service at the more than 200 library branches across the city. Officials have warned that further cuts could mean full weekend closures, which hasn’t been the case since the city reinstated six-day service at all libraries in 2015.

“One thing we've learned from the pandemic is that people are spending more time in their communities,” said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at NYU. “Libraries are part of the social infrastructure of the city of New York.”

So why are libraries — those apparently universally beloved civic institutions — almost always on the chopping block when times get tough? Here’s a rundown of the factors that contribute to an unpopular but recurring City Hall decision to reduce public library funding.

The annual ‘budget dance’

Veterans of the city’s budget process know it as a drawn-out, episodic performance of threats, posturing and closed-door negotiations between the mayor and City Council.

“Every mayor says we're not going to do the budget dance, and then every mayor does a budget dance,” said Councilmember Gale Brewer of Manhattan, who first joined the Council in 2002.

Libraries cost taxpayers under $500 million in annual city funding but make up less than half of 1% of the city’s budget.

But according to experts, libraries are often singled out for cuts because mayors know slashing library services will draw public outcry and spur a battle with the City Council — which chips in for library spending from its own discretionary pot of money.

“Mayors know that the councilmembers will try to restore the cuts because that is something that constituents feel and will complain about,” Moss said.

Libraries are part of the social infrastructure of the city of New York.

Mitchell Moss, NYU professor of urban policy and planning

Hardened budget observers say the exercise also forces the Council to redirect its energies away from scrutinizing other city spending, as well as legislation and oversight tasks.

But when a compromise is finally achieved, both sides can lay claim to a victory.

That’s what happened earlier this year when Mayor Adams decided to back down on some library cuts. When the handshake budget deal was announced in June, both the mayor and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams credited the public for voicing their priorities.

“New Yorkers spoke, we listened,” Mayor Adams said.

But Moss argues that the budget dance still comes at a cost to the city’s libraries, which in March launched a vigorous public campaign against the cuts.

That campaign has continued through today, with the city’s three library systems warning they will be forced to further reduce hours, “including ending universal six-day service,” if the latest budget cuts go through as planned.

“They’re having to waste their resources and time lobbying and fighting to keep the current level,” Moss said. “They should be driving to get more, not less.”

The Adams administration has repeatedly said financial pressures from the migrant crisis and other factors, such as expiring federal pandemic aid, have created a $7 billion budget gap that must be filled by making “tough choices.” Councilmembers have responded that many of the planned cuts could be avoided or delayed due to higher than anticipated tax revenue.

An SOS for wealthy donors

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who managed the city through multiple fiscal crises, instituted numerous cost-cutting measures that did not spare libraries and cultural institutions.

But the same organizations targeted for cuts later became lucky recipients of anonymous donations through the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a philanthropic trust that helped ensure their survival through the Great Recession.

The twist: Bloomberg was said to be behind the gifts.

While he never acknowledged them, his involvement was considered an open secret at City Hall. In 2010, the New York Times reported that Bloomberg had contributed nearly $200 million of his personal money to nonprofits across the city.

“We always knew who that was,” Brewer said, adding that councilmembers would call then-Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris, who was in charge of the fund. “We would say, ‘Can you put my nonprofit on your anonymous Carnegie Foundation list?’”

Bloomberg Philanthropies, the ex-mayor’s charitable giving foundation, did not respond to a request for comment.

There is no way that branch expenses could be covered without crucial city funding.

Jennifer Fermino, NYPL spokeperson

Mayor Adams is no billionaire, but many experts say City Hall is well aware that some wealthy New Yorkers could rescue their favorite organizations in their time of need.

On Wednesday, an anonymous donor gave an unspecified amount to a nonprofit that had lost city funding for compost collection at the city’s greenmarkets. The gift will keep the program running through June.

The New York Public Library, which runs branches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, has an endowment valued at more than $1.2 billion. The Brooklyn and Queens systems receive significantly less in private funding, with each having reported total donations of less than $10 million in 2022.

In a statement, Jennifer Fermino, a spokesperson for NYPL, said the city is obligated to cover operating expenses for all three of its library systems under a historic agreement reached in 1901.

“Our branches are the cornerstone of community life in all five boroughs, offering free access to essential resources to all, and there is no way that branch expenses could be covered without crucial city funding,” read the statement from the libraries. “The city has been a great partner over the years, and we hope they will do everything they can to fully fund libraries.”

There’s a tendency to take libraries for granted

The first U.S. public library can be traced back to the 18th century. But modern libraries’ role goes beyond lending books: They provide internet and computer access, language classes and programming for children and seniors — offerings that especially benefit low-income people who can’t afford private services.

Since the pandemic, libraries have also increasingly been re-envisioned as gathering spaces that feature buzzy exhibits and performances.

“The library is the quintessential public good,” said Eric Klinenberg, a sociology professor at NYU who gives lectures on libraries’ various functions.

“As valuable as it is for us in our daily lives, funding it never seems as urgent as dealing with the housing crisis or people’s fears of crime or the current migration crisis,” he added.

On a recent afternoon at NYPL’s sprawling Midtown branch, several visitors described the services there as essential.

“I was coming here almost every day because [at] one point I didn't have a working laptop and I couldn't afford to buy one,” said 17-year-old Modhupa Tsali. “So I could come here and work on my college applications.”

Upstairs, Maria Papia, an immigrant from Mexico, was leaving her weekly English class. She said the classes had vastly improved her speaking skills and given her more confidence to navigate the city’s streets.

“This is a fantastic school,” she said.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

By most estimates, New York City is in serious financial straits — and some see more than the usual City Hall machinations at work.

“This budget is different,” James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policy at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, told Gothamist. “It’s not a budget dance situation.”

Mayor Adams has blamed his administration's spending cuts on insufficient help from President Joe Biden in accommodating the more than 150,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since spring 2022.

Making across-the-board cuts is a way of pressuring Albany and Washington to respond to the city’s funding needs, according to Parrott. “It’s a way of focusing public attention on the severity of the budget situation, to hopefully induce average citizens to make their concerns known to the governor and to Washington,” he said.

Every mayor says we're not going to do the budget dance, and then every mayor does a budget dance.

City Councilmember Gale Brewer

Congress has yet to reach a deal on new border policies as part of negotiations around an emergency funding package including aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Until then, significant federal funding is unlikely.

Following a trip last week to visit officials in Washington, D.C., Adams said, “Help is not on the way.”

Implementing painful cuts has political risks for Adams, now nearly halfway through his term. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed him scoring the lowest approval ratings for a NYC mayor in the 27-year history of the survey. The poll found 66% of local voters disapproved of the way the mayor has handled the budget.

In another blow, Politico on Wednesday reported that DC37, the city’s largest municipal union, is suing the Adams administration over the cuts and accusing officials of trying to replace some of the union’s members with non-unionized contractors.

The intense backlash suggests Adams could still suffer political costs even if Albany helps him blunt some of the anticipated cuts.

“People may remember that you proposed cuts, even if they get restored in the end,” Parrott said. “That part may not stick in people's minds.”

The story was updated to clarify that a statement about library funding requirements was issued on behalf of all three library systems.