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A group of library users and residents of Midtown Manhattan are fuming over what they are calling the inept and heartless handling of the Donnell Library, which was known for its rich holdings of movies, music, foreign language materials and children's books until it closed last year. The New York Public Library shut the Donnell branch, which opened in October 1955, last August, as part of a deal announced in November 2007 to sell the building to Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. for $59 million. The five-story building, at 20 West 53rd Street, was to be razed to make way for an 11-story hotel, but a new library branch would occupy space on the first floor and in the basement. The deal fell apart in March, however, with the hotel company backing out, citing the financial and credit crises. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focuses on the 113th Street public library branch near Columbia University in New York City, and the patrons and librarians there. Description of the library and patrons; Comments on how little money librarians make in New York City; The importance of libraries in society; Plans to move the library to a bigger space; Comments from librarians.