When Shush Comes to Shove

This probably isn\’t news to most public librarians, but NY Mag Says New York\’s overcrowded, underfunded libraries have become a war zone.


the last quarter of 2001, attendance at New York\’s public libraries increased about 4 million people, and at the same time, budget woes have forced the NYPL to make serious cutbacks. The result: a sharp rise in angry patrons.

\”This one guy would get hostile if someone didn\’t get up right at the end of their time,\” says Jeff Muñoz, a page. \”Once, he just started pulling this woman\’s hands off the keyboard and screaming, \’It\’s my time! I\’m not going to calm down!\’ Security had to drag him out.\”