Closing Casa da Saudade and cutting hours at Wilks and Lawler will not solve the city’s budgetary issues. It will only cause grief to the loyal patrons of these branches and to the community of New Bedford at large. Specifically regarding Casa da Saudade, members of the Portuguese-American community around the country and the Portuguese-speaking community around the world are responding to its potential closure with outrage. Casa da Saudade is the only Portuguese library in the United States, and it has stood as a beacon of culture, heritage and literacy both within and beyond New Bedford for the past fifty years.