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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

NYC Read-In

"24-Hour Read-In Protests Cuts to Libraries." N.Y. Region / Michael M. Grynbaum.
New York: New York Times, June 13th 2010.
It was the literary equivalent of a filibuster, a bookworm’s take on 1960s-style protest.

A 24-hour stream of sentences and stories, spanning the canon from George Eliot to “Gossip Girl,” flowed from dozens of book-loving New Yorkers this weekend who were concerned about austere budget cuts to libraries proposed by City Hall.

Not typically ones to raise their voices, librarians staged an overnight read-in on the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library on Grand Army Plaza to criticize the city’s plan to close 40 branches by month’s end, and to reduce hours and employees at those that remain.

The event’s slogan: “We Will Not Be Shushed.”