Library To Close Tuesday Nights To Save Money

By Dottie Evans

The easy part was when voters passed the 2004-05 town and education budget this spring on the first go-round.

The hard part has been every day since the April 27 referendum as department heads whose budget proposals were cut by the Board of Selectmen and then in some cases cut again by the Board of Finance, have agonized over where they will make the necessary reductions. They know that after July 1 when the 2004-05 fiscal year begins, a fiscally sound plan reflecting the new numbers must be in place.

In the case of the Cyrenius Booth Library Board of Directors, their task has been onerous.

“With nearly $130,000 less to work with, we have no choice but to raise revenues and reduce services. The most obvious change in the eyes of the community will be an early Tuesday library closing,” said Library Director Janet Woycik speaking from her office Monday.

Whereas the library has routinely remained open four evenings of the week (hours on Monday through Thursday are 10 am to 8 pm), the library will be open three nights only beginning July 1. Tuesday closing will be at 5 pm.

“After the first quarter, the board may reevaluate this decision,” Ms Woycik added.

Bibliomation, the online interlibrary loan system that serves the Booth Library, runs continuous tallies of daily library use and provides circulation data. While deliberating over the closing, the library board consulted recent Bibliomation summaries that showed Wednesday evenings were the “least busy” of the four open nights.

“But we knew that the town regularly uses the Public Meeting Room on Wednesday nights, so we decided on Tuesday instead,” she said.

The library’s original proposal for the upcoming fiscal year was $879,609. This figure was reduced $79,609 by the Board of Selectmen to $799,700. The Board of Finance subsequently shaved off another $50,000.

The library board’s response during its May 11 meeting to the loss of $129,609 or 14.73 percent from its original budget proposal was inevitable, Ms Woycik said. Cost-saving measures would be initiated wherever possible throughout the system beginning July 1.

Fines And Fees Go Up

“Besides the Tuesday night closing, we will be increasing the fines and fees to raise revenues,” Ms Woycik said, adding that this would be the first fine increase in recent memory.

Replacement library cards will go up from $1 to $2. Late book fines for adults will go up from 10 cents a day to 15 cents a day, and for juveniles from 5 cents a day to 10 cents a day. Late videos will go up from $1 a day to $1.50 a day for adults, but they will stay the same at $1 a day for juveniles. Books on tape will go up from 25 cents a day to 50 cents a day for both adults and juveniles.

“That means we’ve nearly doubled the fees, except for juvenile videos where we know the students often need the materials to do school assignments,” Ms Woycik said.

Room use fees will also go up according to the following schedule beginning July 1.

Service organizations may use the Board Room (which is downstairs and holds 25 people) for free. They must pay $10 to use the large Public Meeting Room a half day, and $40 for a full day. Evenings only will be $30.

Not-for-profit organizations will pay $10 for use of the Board Room a full day or evening. The fees for use of the Public Meeting Room will be $25 for a half day, $40 for a full day, and $30 for an evening.

Profit organizations using the Board Room must pay $40 for a half day, $70 for a full day, and $40 for an evening. Their fees for use of the Public Meeting Room are $75, $150, and $75, respectively.

For library-sponsored programs and for town meetings, the use of the Public Meeting Room is free. Other users will be charged a fee to cover costs of operation, and these fees will be reviewed annually by the policy committee of the Library Board of Directors.

Salaries Will Not Be Competitive

One of the board’s stated goals for the upcoming budget year was to bring salaries for circulation desk librarians and other staff up to the level of comparable library staff in surrounding towns. To bring this about, a 7.5 percent raise had been proposed by the board.

After the budget reductions, however, achieving this goal would not be possible.

“Employees will get between three and four percent and they may have less hours,” Ms Woycik said because of the Tuesday night closings.

Library operations is another large category that will be impacted.

“Where we have contractual services for Bibliomation, HVAC, and building maintenance, we were not able to change the numbers. The building is here and we have to take care of it. But we can cut on service to certain equipment such as Xerox machines and audiovisual software. If a video or CD gets scratched, it won’t be replaced as quickly,” she said.

Data stamp machines, pay phones, elevator phones, and the telephone system were other areas where regular maintenance might be reduced. Also tree care and landscaping, garbage removal, carpet cleaning, and elevator maintenance.

“There will be fewer new books in all departments and we will be cutting back on our periodicals.

As for programs such as special art presentations, animal or puppet shows, or adult guest lectures and demonstrations, Ms Woycik said that the various department heads would be taking a hard look at each proposal when planning for the fall.

“The summer reading program is going to happen no matter what. After that, we’ll see.”

As in previous budget years, the library did not receive money for the Capital Reserve account that it asked for ($47,200 for the 2004-05 budget year).

“The town said the proposal was excellent and was a model for all town facilities, but they won’t fund it,” Ms Woycik remarked in frustration.