Camden preparing to close its libraries, destroy books

"They sit there and say they're trying to make Camden better," he said. "They should find somewhere else to find funding because . . . you're closing off opportunity to people."

In a back room, children's librarian Robin Guenther presided over a reading with two dozen children. She said so far this summer, about 600 children have come in for story and crafts programs.

"Why isn't Camden worthy of a library? How can you tell Camden, one of the poorest cities in the country, that they don't deserve a library?" she asked.

Even closing the libraries would be a pricey proposition. The libraries contain historically valuable materials, including phone books dating to the 1880s and newspapers on microfilm from the 1870s. If the library board chooses to save the microfilm, it would cost as much as $11,000 a year. And if the library cannot find a donor for all of its books, it is considering renting seven Dumpsters for $6,230.

In 1904, Andrew Carnegie donated $100,000 for the first library to be built in Camden. That sum might be enough to save the library more than a century later.

Contact staff writer Matt Katz at 856-779-3919 or mkatz@phillynews.com.