By Tyree Johnson
Editor/Publisher

When he was running for office, Mayor Michael Nutter often credited the neighborhood library for much of his academic and personal success.

Skip a few pages in that diary and today, we find a mayor who says he is forced to close 11 library branches - four in our West/Southwest Philadelphia.

The closings - make that a permanent shutting down of these citadels of learning - are being made to help close a $108 million hole in this year's budget. It is also suppose to help fill a gap in a projected $1 Billion deficit expected over the next five years if nothing is done now.

There is a fiscal crisis, concedes Amy Dougherty, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Free Library, "but we believe there are other ways to solve the crisis."

"Balancing the budget should not be done on the backs of people who are elderly and children who don't have libraries in their schools or jobs," Dougherty added.

And, on Monday, November 17 at noon, Dougherty has called a press conference to advance ways the city can save money without closing the libraries.

Meanwhile, some neighbors are now mobilizing to stave off closing down - forever - their neighborhood libraries.

At the Haddington Branch Library near 65th Street and Girard Avenue, the Haddington's Friends of the Library is planning a rally for Saturday, November 22nd at noon in front of the library. The library is handicapped accessible.

They will be fighting to keep the doors open to the branch that last month saw 3,812 monthly visits, some 1,177 people using its computers and some 3,500 books lent out. And, that's not counting the number of young and old patrons who peered through its magazines, newspapers and other periodicals.

What also could be lost with the closing is the number of programs at the branch that serves preschoolers, parenting classes, the elderly and the use of its community room.

This branch is also used extensively by students who attend the nearby St. Donato School.

The city has 54 branches in its Free Library system. Eleven are to be shuttered permanently with these four in our community:

The Haddington Library opened in 1915 and the Kingesssing Library opened in 1919. Both have distinguished architecture designs and were erected by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

"They will go back to the public sector and will be lost forever," lamented City Councilman Curtis Jones.

Jones stopped off at the Haddington Library to show his support for keeping the facility open.

"There is an international meltdown of the economy," said Jones, "and it's real."

Jones said Mayor Nutter has some tough decisions to make to close the projected 5-year, $1 Billion shortfall, but feels he must first look into other alternatives, including a list of savings presented by a group of freshman council members in which Jones is a member.

"You got to have a library," Jones added surrounded by members of the library's "Friends." "It's a safe haven for children. Not everybody plays basketball.

"There are more academic scholarships handed out than athletic scholarships," he said to a background chorus of "Amen."