SALINAS, Calif. -- Mary Jean Gam= ble=20 organized the John Steinbeck historical archives, supervised the Stei= nbeck=20 literature collection and ranks as an authority on Salinas history an= d=20 genealogy.=20 After nearly 23 years with the Salinas Public Library, she may kno= w=20 more about the "Grapes of Wrath" or "Cannery Row" than anyone else in= the=20 author's hometown.=20 So how would Steinbeck have reacted to the news that the cash-stra= pped=20 city is closing its libraries in the spring?=20 "He'd obviously be upset. He knew that literature can lift and ele= vate=20 the spirit and enable humans to rise above any situation," Gamble sai= d.=20 "He probably even read some of the great literature at the Salinas=20 library."=20 Facing record deficits, the City Council voted Dec. 14 to shut all= three of Salinas' libraries, including the branches named after Stei= nbeck=20 and labor leader Cesar Chavez. The blue-collar town of 150,000 could= become the most populous U.S. city without a public library.=20 Salinas, nicknamed "salad bowl to the nation" for the lettuce and= broccoli fields nearby, is the 1902 birthplace of the Nobel Prize-wi= nning=20 author of "Cannery Row" and "Of Mice and Men." Steinbeck, who died in= 1968, described the region as "pastures of heaven" and memorialized= Salinas in his 1952 novel "East of Eden."=20 But after voters Nov. 2 rejected a half-cent increase in the sales= tax=20 to preserve city services, Salinas has drawn the scorn of bibliophile= s=20 around the world. Editorials in newspapers from New Zealand to London= have=20 condemned the closings.=20 "It's embarrassing, not to mention inconvenient," said Ben Lopez, = 69, a=20 Salinas resident since 1945 who visits the Steinbeck branch at least = twice=20 a week. "Where else will I go to check out material -- Prunedale?" he= said, referring to a relatively spartan branch of the Monterey Count= y Free=20 Libraries system.=20 Because of Salinas' large number of poor farmworkers and immigrant= s,=20 the city's libraries are popular destinations for people seeking=20 citizenship primers, literacy courses, English-as-a-second language t= apes,=20 Internet access and after-school programs. Roughly 1,900 people visit= on=20 an average day.=20 "The reality is that we live in a blue-collar community where peop= le=20 are struggling, and they're afraid of new taxes," Mayor Anna Caballer= o=20 said. "I don't think they realized the enormity of what we were facin= g."=20 Libraries nationwide are struggling. According to an April study b= y the=20 Chicago-based American Library Association, libraries in 41 states=20 absorbed more than $50 million in funding cuts in the past year. More= than=20 1,100 libraries have reduced operating hours or cut staff.=20 Because of cutbacks in state funding combined with rapid growth in= Salinas and rising health care costs, the city cut $8 million from i= ts=20 budget in the last year and faces another $8 million reduction in its= $60=20 million overall spending plan for the 2005-06 fiscal year.=20 All three library branches are set to close by May or June. Nearly= three dozen employees will lose their jobs.=20 Some residents are hoping a private donor will rescue the library.= Librarians are considering seeking corporate sponsorship.=20 But a top library official said the prospect of a white knight eme= rging=20 to cover the roughly $3.2 million in annual operating expenses is rem= ote.=20 And she is pessimistic that the libraries could close and then seamle= ssly=20 reopen if the economy improved in a year or two.=20 "Operating a library isn't as simple as selling cans of tomato sou= p at=20 a retail store," said Jan Neal, administrative manager at the Steinbe= ck=20 Library. "Do you think that the librarians who have worked here would= stay=20 around in hopes that the libraries would reopen someday? And what wou= ld=20 you do about lapsed subscriptions to periodicals such as Congressiona= l=20 Quarterly?" Copyright 2004 Associated= Press.=20 All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,= rewritten, or=20 redistributed.
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