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.