Staff Blog
Library Update: Second lawsuit filed, Nutter to announce “preservation of services” plan on Monday
As you may have read already (Inky and Young Philly Politics have covered this), three Council members — Blackwell, Gree and Kelly — tossed down their gauntlets on Wednesday and sued Mayor Michael Nutter and Free Library Director Siobhan Reardon, as well as the library's board of directors. This lawsuit is separate from the class-action suit filed by local attorney Irv Ackelsberg on behalf of library patrons and the ACFSME District Council 47.
This suit differs from the class-action lawsuit in a couple of ways.
One, it's simpler: Just Council members v. City, no need to establish a class.
Two, it uses a slightly different tactic. Both are based on a city ordinance prohibiting the mayor from closing buildings without Council's approval. Acklesberg's suit is asking for an injunction — think restraining order — to stop the mayor from closing the libraries; the Council suit, on the other hand, is asking for a "writ of mandamus" which is basically a judge's order for a public official to do his job (in this case, the plaintiffs argue that by closing the libraries, Nutter is not).
Hearings for both lawsuits will be this Monday at 10 a.m. in the Court of Common Pleas in City Hall. It's going to be a circus.
A delay in the closings, either by injunction or order, could pave the way for hearings (Council President Anna Verna canceled library hearings in December, arguing that they would be irrelevant), which in turn just might result in getting answers to questions that still remain unanswered.
Chief among them: What is the cost of each library in the system, exactly how much do we save by closing them, and what exactly is the Free Library's plan for the future? If, as the administration claims, it plans to replicate library services in other facilities — bookmobiles, rec centers, etc. — how would that work, what would it cost, and what are the set savings?
These questions are especially relevant now, as the mayor's press office put out word about half an hour ago that Nutter will be announcing "the details about one of the Free Library’s largest and most important services which will continue in each of the eleven neighborhoods where the libraries are slated for closure."
The announcement will take place this Monday, at 1 p.m., a few hours after the court hearings are scheduled to take place.
Nutter spokesman Doug Oliver declined to elaborate on the press release.
It was news also to Amy Doughtery, Executive Director of the Friends of the Free Library, who guessed the announcement will have to do with the LEAP program, the Free Library's after-school program. Dougherty, among others, has questioned whether it makes sense to move such services into other facilities.
Nutter has pledged not to close rec centers, but he has also outlined nearly $700,000 in cuts to them, a number that can't possibly be met without a reduction in staff.
Maybe it's time to start looking more closely at rec centers. More services and less staff is a tall order to fill.
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