What are the toughest questions tossed at reference librarians?

I spent much of my non-misspent youth in a library, and at least a couple borrowed books are usually lurking around my home. This all makes it especially hard for me to bear the cutbacks at libraries here in San Diego.

Almost all of the city's branch libraries close on Sundays and Mondays and only stay open in the evening, until just 8 p.m., twice a week. The aging central library in downtown shuts its doors on Saturdays, and that's not likely to change even when it's replaced by a grand new building next year. (That is, if donors can rustle up the $28 million needed to finish construction.)

I asked the city librarian about the system's struggles in an interview for a local news website. The story appeared earlier this month, and it didn't take long for cranky online commenters to descend.

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