New York public libraries

Just days after the city requested that school librarians be made optional, parents, teachers, librarians, and officials are already protesting.

NEW YORK—As the countdown toward finalizing the New York City budget gets closer to the end, the three presidents of the city’s library systems are pleading for a halt to proposed cuts.

Sporting a blue blazer, glasses, and standing at a mini-podium, third-grader Preston Ferraiuolo from Brooklyn called out confidently to the crowd of 300 adults: “Hello New York City!”