The saying goes that “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” Librarians know that during times of economic hardship our libraries are busier than ever. Too often, it is during these times of high use and economic hardship that our budgets are cut, often drastically. How is your library responding to the current economic situation? Are you doing more with less? Being forced to cut back on staffing, programs and purchasing? Public Libraries wants to know!

We are currently looking for personal essays of approximately 1,000 words for the July/August Perspectives column. Please submit your essay by April 30th to Nanci Milone Hill at