A Michael Powell column in the New York section includes the following passage:
New York cut tens of millions of dollars from the libraries in the past five years — and spent twice as much on the High Line, a park that ignited a luxury real estate price explosion in Chelsea.
New Yorkers do not lack for self-regard. Mr. Robins, born here and living still in Brooklyn, would play to this: "Why do Chicago and Boston keep libraries open 50 hours a week while New York doesn't do five days a week?" Mr. Robins asks. "Let's aspire to 60 hours."
I don't know what city Michael Powell or Harvey Robins are living in, but here is the Brooklyn Public Library web site. The Central Branch, which is convenient to Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope and is accessible to the rest of the borough by public transportation, is open seven days a week, for a total of 68 hours.
I used to use that library, which is really wonderful in many ways, quite a bit when I lived in New York, so I am grateful for the extended hours. But realistically, we are moving from a world in which people went to the library to consult an encyclopedia or read the newspaper or a magazine into a world where many individuals, even poor individuals, have 24/7 computer or smartphone access to Wikipedia and to a vast array of free information on the Web. The library's Web site is open 24/7, and many resources can be accessed electronically. Again, I am grateful for the extended hours, and I am not arguing for fewer hours. But the notion that it should be a high priority expenditure to extend library hours is not as self-evident, given the technological changes, as the column seems to assume.