Deliverer of bad news

Yesterday, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe released a list of more than 3,600 retail outlets that the Postal Service will consider closing at the end of a six-month review. The branches, about 11 percent of the total locations nationwide, were chosen based on how much work employees are doing and how many customers come in.

“We never want to close post offices, and this is not a done deal yet,’’ said Dennis Tarmey, spokesman for the Postal Service’s Greater Boston District. “But we’re going through hard times, just like everyone else.’’

During the six-month review, the Postal Service will host community meetings with postal managers and send out questionnaires to residents whose local post offices are being studied.

Once the final cuts are made in late December or early January, residents or community groups can file an appeal, Tarmey said.

College campus post offices are strongly represented on the list, including locations at Tufts University, Babson College, and Boston College - which were all up for review three years ago, Tarmey said. The colleges negotiated with the Postal Service by cutting operating costs, dramatically decreasing the post offices’ rents, and guaranteeing that more customers would lease PO boxes, Tarmey said. But those options are now spent.

The Postal Service primarily relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations because it does not receive tax money. Over the last four years the Postal Service has reduced staff by about 130,000 and cut costs by $12 billion to adjust to the new economic reality. For example, about half of all bill payments are made online, up from 5 percent a decade ago.