What might might have gotten lost in the story of Judge Fox’s injunction against the library closings last week might have been just how eloquent the decision itself was. We’ve heard a lot of people talk about these closings in the last two months, but we’ve seldom heard this kind of clarity of thought about it all, and what it really means. To wit:

The decision to close these eleven branch libraries is more than a response to a financial crisis; it changes the very foundation of our City. Two of the libraries scheduled to close, Haddinton and Holmesburg, will result in a reversion of the property back to the original grantor because of deed restrictions. No one questions the economic crisis which has rocked both the City and the Nation. However, we are a Nation of hope. A “crisis” evokes something temporary. Defendants argued there were more than enough libraries in Philadelphia. “Philadelphia has more libraries than any other city in the country.” Our library system is more than a century old yet in three short months an economic crisis results in permanently closing eleven branches. This court does not envy the Mayor and the tough decisions he has had to make in this financial crisis. Yet, as this court is bound to follow the law, so is the Mayor. The permanent closing of neighborhood branch libraries is changing the very structure of the Free Library of Philadelphia and not just responding to a “financial crisis.”

Hear, hear.
Scribd: Preliminary Injunction Adjudication (Full Text) [via YoungPhillyPolitics]

This entry was posted on Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 3:54 pm.