Public Employee Press

Fighting to save public services from Bloomberg's cuts

10-year-old:
"Cutting libraries cuts education"

Four youngsters joined the grownups at City Hall May 22 to call for greater funding of the city's public libraries.

Thomas Chin, 10, who attends PS/IS104 in Queens, offered the adults a quick civics lesson on how best to use our tax dollars.

Parent Coordinator Shirley Chin, his proud mother and a member of Local 372, was among the dozens who saw him speak at the press conference and rally that morning.

The four elementary students urged the City Council to restore the $106 million cut in library spending in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's budget. They said their neighborhood libraries are an integral part of their education, after-school havens where they study, join in reading groups, use the computer, see friends and find books for pleasure reading.

"Libraries have a lot of books," Thomas Chin told PEP, describing his love for libraries. "They are nice and quiet, and you don't lose your concentration."

Since he relies so much on his neighborhood library for his schoolwork, Thomas said he regarded the mayor's budget cuts as cutting funding for his education.

Mrs. Chin asked Thomas if he would be interested in appearing at the news conference after she learned that City Council Libraries Chair Vincent Gentile was seeking children to speak at the event.

"He said 'Yes!' I told him to write why the library is important to him, and he wrote the speech himself," she said.