Tribune/Nathan Orme - Part-time library aide Lisa Felix restocks audio books on Thursday at the Sparks Library. Felix said this year's budget cuts have affected staff's ability to find materials for patrons and that "even just answering the phone is hard sometimes."
Washoe County commissioners will meet on Jan. 26 to decide how to allocate funds among county departments. Library staff members are exploring every possibility for reductions from closures to fewer branch hours, delays on the transfer of books and resources between branches and layoffs.
“We won’t have anything final until after Jan. 26,” Varnon said, adding that in addition to the commissioners, the budget will also depend on the system’s Board of Library Trustees, which will direct the branches as to how to spend the money.
The system has 12 branches. Although she couldn’t disclose which branches would be chosen, Varnon said it’s possible that the three to five libraries that may be looked at for closures could include at least two small and one large branch, but other options are on the table.
“We’re looking at the libraries we may need to close or keep open by geographical location to provide the best balance and in order for people to get the access they need,” she said. “No matter what, we cannot keep all the libraries open the same number of hours.”
If the library system were fully staffed, the system would have 231 employees, but there are currently 70 vacant jobs and that number has the potential to grow.
“It’s really iffy and we’re looking at the possibility for us that a major number of people would be laid off,” Varnon said. “It could be up to 50 but we are hoping for many less.”
Closing a library would depend on several factors, Varnon added.
On Monday, the WCLS eliminated the mobile library service program, the traveling bus that served mostly children at 36 locations on a regular basis. Closing the mobile library meant moving staff to help in other branches, Varnon said, but a loss of staff in 2009 created additional shortages.
“While we have been filling in with not only administrative staff, who have been working with different locations on different days … we lost additional people this year because of not only retirement, but there have been illnesses and the necessity for long-term leave,” Varnon said. “With this mobile library (closure), people have been helping us fill that gap.
The budget slicing, however, won’t impact the libraries’ primary objective.
“We’re about information and education,” Varnon said.
Bonnie Saviers, marketing coordinator for WCLS, said the system will wait until the time is right for its services to rebound.
“One of the other goals, knowing we are going to be pulling back our services, if you will, is figuring out how can we do this in a way that will position us so that as time gets better, we will be able to expand in a way that is more sustainable than we are right now,” she said. “Rather than just reacting, we are just trying to take a more long-term approach to looking forward into the future when times are better so we can very carefully and thoughtfully provide the best service to our public.”
Saviers said the libraries are very important to local residents.
“People have a strong emotional attachment and they really appreciate what we do, so we want to respond to that and it could take possibly 10 years to restore services,” she said. The library system board meets on Jan. 20 to discuss and compile its suggestions for cuts, which will then be considered and possibly adopted by the Washoe County Board of Commissioners at the Jan. 26 meeting. Both meetings are open to the public and there will be time allotted to public comment.
A time for the library system board meeting has not yet been announced, but patrons can visit the system’s Web site at www.washoecounty.us/library, click on “About the Library,” then “Board of Trustees” and “Agendas” as the meeting date gets closer to confirm.
Post a Comment