A year ago, Minneapolis was planning an impressive new downtown library, and trumpeting the value of the project to the city and the entire metro area. Now, the new library may be on hold, and city officials are planning to shutter four branch libraries for the remainder of 2003 in an effort to deal with the severe budget cuts being handed down by the legislature. Minnesota has a budget deficit of nearly $5 billion for the next biennium, and the state’s largest city is facing massive cuts in services as a result. Closing the branch libraries is expected to save the city $2 million.