The Free Library of Philadelphia has posted notices at its branches and on its web site advising users that all libraries will close at the end of business on Oct. 2 if the state Legislature does not act on the city's budget request.

The notices also say that all material will now be due Oct. 1 and that nothing can be borrowed after Sept. 30.

Besides closing libraries, the Nutter administration's so-called Plan C doomsday budget includes eliminating court-system funding, shutting down all recreation centers and laying off up to 3,000 workers, including police and firefighters.

Layoff notices could go out on Friday if the Legislature does not approve the city's request for a temporary sales-tax hike and a two-year deferral of payments into the pension fund.

In its online notice, the Library urges its customers to contact their elected officials and provides links on how to do that.

The following is the text of the notice posted by the Free Library:

Violent unrest rocks China as crisis hits

The collapse of the export trade has left millions without work and set off a wave of social instability, writes

The new US Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, has alarmed Beijing and
raised fears of a trade war by stating that China manipulates the yuan to
promote exports.

However, a growing number of economists say the unrest proves that it is not
the exchange rate but years of sweatshop wages and income inequality in
China that have distorted global competition and stifled domestic demand.
The influential Far Eastern Economic Review headlined its latest issue “The
coming crack-up of the China Model”.

NUMBER COULD DOUBLE

Yiping Huang, chief Asia economist for Citigroup, said even that number could double if government stimulus plans fail to offset slowed exports and general gloom.

"It is a big number coming from an official source but a lot of people are expecting even bigger numbers," Huang said of Chen's estimate.

"These are pretty difficult to check reliably, but people are talking about 30 or 40 million eventually."

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UK unemployment map

Click through our unemployment map to find out where the UK recession is
having the biggest impact on jobs. The map, updated every month, gives the
latest count of those claiming unemployment benefits in the UK.

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US unemployment reaches 25-year high

The US economy continues to contract with the number of people claiming
long-term unemployment benefit hitting a 25-year-high and the trade deficit
narrowing as a result of the slowdown.