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Future of 6-Day Library Service Secured With New Funding, Officials Say

 Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and other officials announced that six-day library service will be set into future city budgets.
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and other officials announced that six-day library service will be set into future city budgets.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

ASTORIA — Officials say they've secured funding to keep city libraries open at least six days a week for years to come, according to an announcement Wednesday.

The City Council and the de Blasio administration negotiated $43 million in funds for all three of the city's library systems in this year's budget and said the same amount will be set into future budgets to cover the six-day service, officials said.

"To invest in our libraries and to make that something that is non-negotiable in our budget, so to speak, was a real priority for us," Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said at an announcement at the Queens Library's Broadway branch in Astoria Wednesday.

Though the Queens Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library — which covers libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx — have had six-day service since 2015, the "baseline" funding means that future budget negotiations will automatically start with the $43 million allotted for libraries.

That's enough to keep them open six days week — plus fund classes and programs — and officials could potentially negotiate for more, Mark-Viverito said.

"Over the years, we always had to start every budget fight from the beginning in terms of bringing back money into the library budgets," Mark-Viverito said.

"That was just not acceptable  — we didn’t want to have to negotiate six-day service every single year and have to make the case about why it was important to have that level of funding."

Officials said having library branches open on weekends is essential to making sure all New Yorkers have a chance to take advantage of them.

"I know how important libraries are, I know how important it is for the families in this neighborhood," said Councilman Costa Constantinides, who represents Astoria.

"As a father, I know that sometimes Saturday is the only day I have, and that's the only day that many families have to be able to bring your child here."