Measure Q

I visited Diana at the Oakland Public Library. She used to be my supervisor when I worked there. She was sitting at her desk looking glum. I felt glum, too. We talked about the library's future, which made us more glum. Our new mayor, Jean Quan, is talking about making deep budget cuts in all city departments. In the library's case that would be a disaster because of Measure Q. Measure Q is a tax that was passed in 2004. It was intended to protect the libraries from budget cuts and to prevent the City Council from taking money away from the library to spend somewhere else. The caveat is that the City of Oakland has to provide $9 million dollars for the library from its general fund or else the $14 million dollars from Measure Q cannot be collected. If the budget cuts come to pass, then the library is in danger of losing the Measure Q funds. This means that a 10% cut in the library's budget could lead to an 80% cut in services. Of the sixteen branches, thirteen would have to close and services in the remaining branches would be greatly reduced.

Of course, we both hope that won't happen, but Diana is pessimistic about the library staff's ability to get the message out to the public and I'm skeptical about the public's reaction. The citizens of Oakland have consistently supported the library with their tax dollars, but despite their best efforts, a financial crisis comes around every few years. I suspect people are tired of paying more taxes for less services.

Four branches were built between 1916 and 1918 with money donated by Andrew Carnegie. More were built in the twenties. All of them remained open during the Great Depression. It seems rather pathetic that they will probably have to close now.

PS: I called the library to fact-check the above statement. They told me that not only had the branches remained open, but that three more branches were added during the Depression, two in 1930 and one in 1932.