To the Editor:
The recent news that the Princeton Public Library (PPL) is cutting back on hours and services is very disheartening. PPL librarians — whether they’re reacting to inter-library loan requests, answering online queries, or responding to in-person questions — are Johnny-on-the-spot; their response time is amazing. The PPL staff who create and lead deeply meaningful and timely programs are in a class by themselves. Not incidentally, the library is a haven — in every way — for our community.
“I have an unshaken conviction that democracy can never be undermined if we maintain our library resources and a national intelligence capable of utilizing them,” wrote President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a letter to Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam in 1939. This is not the time to cut back on any library.