Seattle, one of America’s most bookish cities, has shut down its entire network of public libraries for the week due to budget cuts. This is a huge story.

I think it’s a very sad day — week — for the city of Seattle that they can’t access their local library, which is one of the most heavily used libraries in the country,” said Nancy Pearl, the city’s ex-librarian superstar and the author of “Book Lust,” a best-selling tribute to the joy of reading.