Closing the library was a significant symbolic loss for Time Inc. reporters and editors, several executives said.
Rainwater poured in again two weeks ago, closing the library for four days, enraging patrons and leaving Rodney J. Lee, the institution's director, more concerned than ever about its future.
The mayor's request generated ill feelings among the library's board, and at a January meeting its trustees rescinded their earlier vote to reduce the budget by $400,000, which would have meant closing the library on Fridays.
Renovating just Mid-Manhattan, as some have suggested, would cost about $150 million and require closing the library for about two years, Mr. Marx said; selling it, along with the science library, will infuse the system with $10 million to $15 million in annual operating savings that can be spent on other priorities, like research acquisitions.
When the librarian took to closing the library for trysts, Ms. Cameron persuaded the mayor to hire Norma Guzman, a local woman who was then sent to the United States and Spain to learn about running a library, and who came back with ideas for reading programs, preschool classes and vacation school.
And, again, though the chief executive, Lynne Brindley, has said that the library has been able "to avoid more radical cuts", she notes that the management will have to consider closing the library for one or more days a week or charging for reader's passes if the budget is reduced further.
The council has said that although 82% of those residents who responded to its survey were against closing the libraries, they represent fewer than 1% of borough residents.
We may be a long way from burning books, but we are closing the libraries that so many millions of people rely on.
Every aspect of what was fought for by generations seems under threat – from selling off the forests, privatising health provision, closing the libraries and swimming pools, and scrapping rural bus routes.
