The Unfortunate Tradition

My hometown library, the Seattle Public Library, is closed all week because of budget cuts. It's not the first time this has happened. It's becoming something of a tradition. So much so, the New York Times is starting to write about it.

From the piece...

The Seattle Public Library, a beloved civic trophy in a book-loving city, whose directors are plucked away for plum jobs by presidents and philanthropists and whose buildings are often beacons of design, is closed all week — yet again. The furlough, intended to save about $650,000 from the system’s $50 million budget, has become something of a late-summer tradition in recent years, hardly as welcome as the weather.

“It’s an unfortunate tradition,” said Marcellus Turner, who started as the city librarian on Aug. 15 and promptly got a few days off, unpaid.

“Library Closed Aug. 29 — Sept. 5 Due to Budget Cuts,” say the bold red signs on the doors at the central library, a jolt of glass and steel by the architect Rem Koolhaas.

Foreign tourists walk away disappointed at missing a stroll through a new city landmark. A bicyclist pulls up, looking to return a few DVDs, but a sign tells him to wait until next week — and that he will face no late fees. Internet search engines promise information about the library but instead deliver a page with the closing explained in multiple languages.